Operational Assets in Korea Hit Record High at 950 Trillion Won in 2017

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on Feb. 25 that South Korean financial firms’ assets under management hit a record high of 950 trillion won (US$884.05 billion) in 2017, up 43 trillion won (US$40.01 billion), or 4.7 percent, from 907 trillion won (US$844.19 billion) in 2016.

The amount of trust funds stood at 497 trillion won (US$462.84 billion), up 27 trillion won (US$25.15 billion), up 5.7 percent, from 470 trillion won (US$437.74 billion) a year earlier. For public offering funds, the amount of money market funds (MMFs) decreased 14.5 trillion won (US$13.5 billion) over the same period but private funds, mainly real estate and special assets, increased 36 trillion won (US$33.51 billion) to 286 trillion won (US$266.24 billion). 

Assets under investment discretionary Agreement reached 452 trillion won (US$420.86 billion), up 14 trillion won (US$13.04 billion), or 3.2 percent, from 438 trillion won (US$407.9 billion) at the end of 2016 due to the rise in domestic equity and foreign fund assets under discretionary contracts.

The asset management firms’ combined net profit came to 627.4 billion won (US$584.12 million) in 2017, up 21.3 billion won (US$19.83 million), or 3.5 percent, from 609.1 billion won (US$567.03 million) in 2016. Their operating profit stood at 780.7 billion won (US$726.77 million), up 54.1 billion won (US$50.36 million), or 7.4 percent, from 726.6 billion won (US$676.28 million) in 2016, boosted by growing profits from commission.

Their profits from commission rose 224.3 billion won (US$208.75 million), or 11.6 percent, on-year from 1.93 trillion won (US$1.8 billion) to 2.16 trillion won (US$2.01 billion). The amount of fund-related fees grew 168.3 billion won (US$156.75 million), or 11.5 percent, on-year to 1.63 trillion won (US$1.52 billion), while that of entrustment fees increased 56 billion won (US$52.16 million), or 11.9 percent, to 526.2 billion won (US$490.08 million).