Mirae Asset receives highest ESG rating among brokerage houses

Mirae Asset Securities headquarters in central Seoul / Courtesy of Mirae Asset Securities

By Yi Whan-woo

Mirae Asset Securities received the highest rating among all brokerage houses in Korea in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) efforts assessed by an ESG rating agency.

The Seoul-headquartered Mirae Asset Securities said, Sunday, it was the country's only brokerage house to get an A grade on ESG performance rated by Sustinvest.

“Our efforts to implement ESG principles in a systemic manner seems to have been highly valued in Sustinvest's ESG rating,” Mirae Asset Securities said in a statement, noting it has worked on ESG management since 2006.

“We've set mid- to long-term goals for our businesses in relation to ESG values and have been carrying out phased steps accordingly,” the company added.

Mirae Asset Securities aims to be carbon neutral by 2040, with a smaller goal of achieving RE100 by 2025. RE100 is a global business initiative to replace all fossil-fuel energy sources with renewable ones.

Correspondingly, the company became the first brokerage house here to sign a long-term contract on renewable energy with relevant energy companies.

The firm has also been encouraging its executives and members, as well as their family members, to join an environmental cleanup campaign.

To embrace socially-vulnerable people, it has been offering free educational sessions on finance and expanding charity services.

In a regular shareholders' meeting early this year, the company decided to take overhaul measures on dividend payment for investors as a part of the country's efforts for advancement in the capital market. The new measure will take effect in 2024.

“We will continue providing 'sustainable finance' to open up a sustainable future through our investment and operation. We will especially focus on responsible, transparent and ethical management,” the spokesperson said.