First among Korean Asset Management Firms
Mirae Asset Global Investments (MAGI) has obtained a license to manage private equity funds (PEFs) in China for the first time among South Korean asset management firms. This means the company can enter the Chinese asset management market, which is the second-largest in the world with an estimated size of US$20 trillion.
MAGI announced on Nov. 21 that YiCai Investment Consulting, its subsidiary in Shanghai, has been registered as a private fund management wholly foreign-owned enterprise (PFM WFOE) with the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).
China is yet to fully open its financial market. The Chinese government allowed non-joint venture PFM WFOEs in the local fund market in June 2016. Global financial companies such as Fidelity, UBS, BlackRock and Bridgewaters obtained the same license last year or this year, and MAGI did so for the 16th time worldwide and for the first time in Asia excluding Greater China.
MAGI is going to sell funds investing in mainland Chinese stocks and bonds to local agencies and super-rich investors. In addition, it can provide investment consulting for qualified foreign institutional investors and those investing in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong link and the Shanghai-Hong Kong link. YiCai Investment Consulting obtained the Qualified Domestic Limited Partnership (QLDP) in August this year, and it can sell offshore Mirae Asset funds via mainland Chinese securities companies.
MAGI is expanding its overseas business at a rapid pace. This year alone, it acquired U.S. ETF management company Global X and set up a joint venture with the State Capital Investment Corporation of Vietnam.