Mirae Asset Securities’ Q2 profit soars as global ETF business thrives

Mirae Asset Securities Co. on Thursday reported an 83.1% jump in second-quarter operating profit to 540 billion won ($390 million) from the year prior, buoyed by its exchange-traded fund (ETF) offerings in the US, Europe and Hong Kong.

The world's 12th-largest ETF provider is also expanding its presence India into wealth management beyond brokerage services following its 2023 acquisition of Sharekhan, India’s 10th-largest brokerage, now rebranded as Mirae Asset Sharekhan.

“Our global expansion is delivering results, with overseas operations accounting for 26% of first-half pre-tax income,” Mirae Asset said during its second-quarter conference call. “Our overseas business, centered on ETFs in developed markets, was a key driver of growth.”

Its first-half pre-tax income came in at 224.2 billion won.

Second-quarter earnings at South Korea's largest securities firm beat the market consensus of 385.1 billion won by 30%, according to Yonhap Informax.

Net profit doubled to 405.9 billion won from the year prior, with revenue up 62.9% to 7.69 trillion won.

Annualized return on equity climbed to a record 10.9%, while equity capital reached 12.4 trillion won.

“Our country-specific localization strategy has significantly boosted profitability across our overseas operations since we entered the global market in 2007,” a Mirae Asset official said during the conference call.

The second-quarter results include 130 billion won in valuation gains from investments in innovative companies in the US and China.
 

The firm’s wealth management assets stood at a record 53.3 trillion won, including 7.94 trillion won from offshore clients. This marked the highest level ever for its high-net-worth individual business.

The balance of retirement pension assets swelled nearly tenfold on-year to 32.1 trillion won in the first half, representing the largest increase among South Korea’s 42 retirement pension managers.

Mirae Asset Securities will launch an all-in-one platform that integrates traditional and digital asset management, alongside a generous stock option program to attract AI talent.

It plans to significantly expand its digital private banker workforce, which now stands at around 50.

Write to Yeonhee Kim at yhkim@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.