Mirae Asset continues global march
Jung Ho Rhee of Mirae Asset Global Investments
Jul 19, 2017
The Korean group is targeting Europe and Australia as part of efforts to widen its distribution net beyond Asia for new funds in the pipeline, explains Jung-Ho Rhee.
Mirae Asset Global Investments (Hong Kong) has grand plans to expand its Asia footprint, with expansion to Australia initially and a blueprint to set up more operations in Europe.
“We are expanding our distribution capability in Europe and Asia Pacific, including Australia, so it is a continuing effort,” explains Jung-Ho Rhee, president and chief executive officer of Mirae Asset Global Investments (Hong Kong).
The firm is looking to increase the number of distributor relationships it has in the wholesale and retail space, plus expand its institutional investor network via insurance and pension funds. Family offices will also continue to be high on the list.
This is all in response to growing interest in Asia from investors around the world.
Ball in motion
The past few months have already seen the firm undertake several relationship-building activities in specific countries across Europe.
More specifically, it has initiated business development with local partners in Germany, France and Poland.
And in Australia it is in dialogue with prospects in both the retail and institutional segments, as well as with consultants.
“These markets are top priority in distribution and the product offering, as we already have an Asian-based product offering capability,” adds Rhee.
Closer to home, in China, he says the firm had been anticipating the inclusion within the MSCI emerging market index as a business development opportunity.
“There is a rapidly-growing domestic market in China, so we will continue to work with our team in Shanghai to find good names on the Shanghai and Shenzhen boards,” he adds.
This is a continuation for Mirae Asset of the development of its China capability over the past decade – which also saw it become one of the first foreign managers to have successfully converted an advisory wholly foreign owned enterprise business into one that allows it to carry out WFOE Private Fund Management activities.
Staying committed in Asia
Despite the global growth ambitions, however, Mirae Asset isn’t getting distracted, says Rhee.
And he maintains that the firm has been continuing to provide its Asian-asset based capabilities – not only in equities but also across fixed income and multi-asset products.
This is in line with his ambition to see the firm develop its bond and income range of funds for the UCITS platform.
For example, in December 2016, the firm launched the Mirae Asset Asia Pacific Multi-Asset Income Fund with a focus on Asia Pacific asset classes.
Adopting quantitative analysis, the first portion of the portfolio is an asset allocation core, which aims to set out an optimal medium-to-long-term multi-asset mix for achieving growth and generating income. The second portion is a tactical layer capturing investment opportunities through individual stocks and bonds as an enhancement to the exposure expressed in the core portion. And the third portion of the fund manages the risk exposures of the fund on a holistic level, and seeks to mitigate risks and dampen the volatility of the portfolio.
More recently, the firm launched an Asia bond fund. Benchmarked against the JP Morgan Asia Credit Index and focusing primarily on short- to medium-duration investment-grade credit, the fund gains exposure to corporate bond, government, supranational and high-yield names.
“We have a strong capability based in Korea covering Asian credits, so we can manufacture that capability into our UCITS range for a global offering,” explains Rhee.
A range of options
The firm has also actively been promoting its global emerging market unconstrained bond strategy this year, especially in Europe and Asia.
At the same time, unlike many competitors that are purely active, Mirae Asset can also tap into its ETF product range.
Indeed, the firm announced in mid-July that the net assets of Mirae Asset Global Exchange ETFs – which advanced into 6 countries including Korea, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, the US and Colombia – surpassed the USD15 billion milestone as at end June 2017.
As a result of having a mix of strategies in place, therefore, Rhee says he is confident that Mirae Asset is heading in the right direction.
India progress
As a sign of Mirae Asset’s commitment to India, meanwhile, the firm has also launched its India Portal (www.miraeasset.com/india/) to showcase its firm-wide Indian equity capabilities.
The progress the firm has made is all the more impressive given that many other global asset managers have retreated from this growing yet challenging market.
On a global consolidated basis, the firm manages more than USD2 billion in Indian equities and USD250 million in Indian fixed income instruments (as of March 31, 2017).
President & Chief Executive Officer at Mirae Asset Global Investments