Mirae Asset poised to reclaim brokerage crown from Korea Investment & Securities

A Mirae Asset Securities branch in Seoul, June 15 / Yonhap

Mirae Asset Securities took the lead in the brokerage industry's earnings race in the first half of the year, with net profit exceeding that of Korea Investment & Securities by more than 1 trillion won ($706.5 million), according to industry officials, Thursday.

If the lead holds through year-end, Mirae Asset Securities will reclaim the industry's top spot in annual net profit for the first time in four years, they said.

Mirae Asset Securities posted consolidated net profit of 2.91 trillion won in the first half of this year, up 338 percent from a year earlier, while Korea Investment & Securities recorded 1.73 trillion won, up 68.9 percent.

In 2025, Korea Investment & Securities reported a net profit of 2.01 trillion won, 420 billion won more than Mirae Asset Securities' 1.59 trillion won, making it the first brokerage in Korea to surpass 2 trillion won in annual net profit.

The picture, however, changed dramatically in the first half of this year. Mirae Asset Securities' first-half net profit alone exceeded its full-year profit from last year and even surpassed the net profits of four major commercial banks.

Valuation gains on its SpaceX investment provided a major boost to earnings. First-half pretax profit jumped 349 percent year on year to 3.89 trillion won, of which SpaceX valuation gains accounted for 2.57 trillion won.

Mirae Asset Group invested $278 million in SpaceX in 2022 and 2023.

But the outsized contribution from SpaceX is a double-edged sword, according to analysts, leaving the brokerage’s second-half earnings sensitive to swings in SpaceX's share price.

From left, Mirae Asset Securities CEOs and Vice Chairmen and CEOs Kim Mi-seob and Heo Sun-ho, and Korea Investment & Securities CEO Miller Sung-hwan Kim / Courtesy of Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities

SpaceX's share price has recently fallen to around $130, down roughly 20 percent from about $170 at the end of June. Excluding the impact of exchange-rate movements, every $1 change in SpaceX's share price translates into a roughly 29 billion won change in the valuation of Mirae Asset's investment, according to SK Securities.

This volatility has prompted brokerages to lower their price targets for Mirae Asset Securities even as they maintain their buy ratings.

Korea Investment & Securities, by contrast, has a relatively well-diversified earnings mix. Brokerage accounted for 41.2 percent of the total, followed by trading at 27 percent, investment banking at 16 percent and wealth management at 15.8 percent, the company said.

"Mirae Asset Securities' underlying earnings power has improved significantly even without the contribution from SpaceX," Mirae Asset Securities CEO and Vice Chairman Heo Sun-ho said, adding that a revenue base in wealth management and pensions, an expanding global business and stronger digital capabilities were improving.

In the second quarter, Mirae Asset Securities pulled further ahead in the earnings race, with consolidated net profit of 1.91 trillion won, more than double Korea Investment & Securities' 946.4 billion won.

Mirae Asset Securities outperformed in brokerage, posting net operating revenue of 625.6 billion won, nearly double Korea Investment & Securities' 350 billion won. Korea Investment & Securities, however, led in wealth management and investment banking, with revenue of 191.2 billion won and 193.2 billion won, respectively, versus Mirae's 131 billion won and 42.8 billion won.