Mirae Asset sees 100-fold jump in deposits 15 years after entering India

The company manages $17 billion in assets as the only independent business among foreign companies there

Park Hyeon-Joo, chairman of Mirae Asset Financial Group (center)

Tae-Hoon Lee 1

2023-01-19 11:58:00 beje@hankyung.com

Asset management

South Korea's Mirae Asset Global Investments on Wednesday marked the 15th anniversary of its incorporated company in India that now has 21 trillion won ($17 billion) in assets, over a 100-fold jump since the affiliate's inception.

The company in 2008 launched its first fund in India. Due to the global financial crisis that year, most global asset management companies left the Indian market or turned their businesses there into joint ventures, but Mirae Asset Global Investments retained its independent firm status.

The lone foreign entity of its kind in India, Mirae Asset Global Investments ranks ninth in India in terms of the amount of assets under management.

As of late last year, its Indian affiliate had 21 trillion won in deposits, over 100 times its initial amount of 200 billion won at the time of its founding. After exceeding 10 trillion won in 2020, the amount soared 11 trillion won in two years.

The number of the subsidiary's retail finance accounts also saw tremendous growth from 2.8 million in 2020 to 4.7 million in 2021 and 5.5 million last year.

In 2019, it received approval from Indian financial authorities to set up a holding company. The company runs seven subsidiaries in India including holding, asset management and securities companies.

In addition, the Indian subsidiary last year opened a branch in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to make its parent company the first Korean asset management corporation to enter the Middle Eastern market. Investment in Indian funds in the UAE is high given Dubai's geographic proximity to India and Indians making up 35% of the population in the UAE.

Write to Tae-Hoon Lee at beje@hankyung.com