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| The Mirae Asset head office in Seoul / Yonhap |
Mirae Asset Global Investments, the financial group's asset management unit, is strengthening its presence in the overseas investment bank (IB) market amid the low economic growth of recent years.
Reflecting growing demand for stable and steady investment sources, Mirae Asset Global has introduced various equity fund products, including the nation's first private equity and real estate fund in 2004. In 2009, the firm also rolled out Korea's first fund investing in overseas social overhead capital (SOC) projects.
Mirae Asset Global manages about 12 trillion won ($10.6 billion) worth of funds in the alternative investment market, the largest among domestic asset management companies.
In 2011, the asset management firm acquired U.S.-based Acushnet, a sports equipment maker that owns other sports brands like Titleist and Footjoy. It managed to successfully collect its investment by listing the firm on the New York Stock Exchange in five years.
Mirae Asset has expanded its presence in the overseas real estate market. The Shanghai Mirae Asset Tower, located in the central financial area in the city, is now worth more than 1 trillion won, four times higher than the firm's purchasing price.
It has also offered another investment opportunity for institutional investors by acquiring the Four Seasons Hotel in Sidney and Fairmont Hotel in Hawaii and San Francisco.
Mirae Asset has also actively engaged in investing in overseas SOC projects. It participated in an infrastructure project building a highway near the city of Melbourne in 2009. It also invested about 130 billion won in Spain's SOC projects building hospitals, undergrounds and highways.
"Alternative investment is the only investment source to diversify an asset management firm's revenue portfolio in a low-growth era," a Mirae Asset Global Investments official said.
"Pension funds and other asset management firms just started following the trend. We will continue expanding our presence in the overseas IB market to lead the trend."
