Mirae Asset Group founder and Chairman Park Hyeon-joo, center, poses after winning the International Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of International Business at its annual conference held at Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, downtown Seoul, July 3. Courtesy of Mirae Asset Global Investments

As Mirae Asset Group founder and Chairman Park Hyeon-joo was recognized on the global stage, being named the "International Executive of the Year," expectations are also rising for the group to take a leap to become a "global top tier" firm.

Supporting the expectation is the groundwork laid for global AI expansion, following achievements the group has made so far by daring ventures into overseas markets.

The Academy of International Business (AIB) gave Park the International Executive of the Year Award at the 2024 AIB Seoul, its annual conference held in Seoul from July 2 to 6. Consisting of around 3,400 members from about 90 countries around the world, the AIB has been leading international business research, education, policy-making, inter-country academic exchanges and seminar activities.

It is the most prestigious among awards given to executives who have ventured into the global market. Among the previous winners are Akio Morita of Sony Group, Peter Sutherland of Goldman Sachs and Muhtar Kent of Coca-Cola. Park is the first Asian in the financial industry to receive the award and the second Korean after the late SK Group Chairman Chey Jong-hyun in 1995.

The award recognized the achievements of Mirae Asset Group in making a foray into overseas markets under the leadership of the chairman. During his keynote speech at the AIB Seoul, Park said he wondered why finance couldn't be led by adventurous entrepreneurs like in other global industries. He added that this motivated him to introduce fund strategies covering Asia, China and India and further develop "investment from the global perspective."

Mirae Asset Global Investments entered the global market in 2003 as the first Korean asset management firm to go beyond the border. It overcame the widespread skepticism in Korea back then that it was unrealistic to compete with goliaths like Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.

Park kept a long-term vision for the global market. After two decades, Mirae Asset Global Investments has grown into a leading global financial company representing Korea, operating in 16 countries and regions, including the United States, Vietnam, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, China, Canada, Colombia, Australia and Hong Kong. Its total assets under management reached 340 trillion won ($245.7 billion).

Especially, Mirae Asset's global ETF has grown to 175 trillion won through the acquisition of promising ETF management firms overseas. It is bigger than the entire domestic ETF market at 155 trillion won. Starting with the acquisition of Canada's Horizons ETFs in 2011, Mirae Asset has continued aggressive M&As to expand its global ETF business, including the acquisition of the Global X in the U.S. in 2018 and Australia's ETF Securities in 2022.

As of June 2024, Mirae Asset has grown to be among the top 12 global ETF operators. Global X recently had its total assets under management surpass $50 billion, based on investors' recognition of the firm as a pioneer in innovative ETFs. It has been offering differentiated products since its inception, including thematic products investing in leaders of innovations such as AI and infrastructure development, as well as income-oriented products like those using covered call strategies. Its assets under management have grown fivefold from around $10 billion at the time of acquisition six years ago.

Mirae Asset also has completed preparations for the future financial market led by AI. It established the AI firm Wealthspot in the U.S. and acquired the Australian robo-advisor specialist Stockspot. It is the first Korean financial group to acquire a robo-advisor specialist overseas. Mirae Asset plans to make a full-scale entry into the financial market integrating AI-based services.

"AI is rising as a potential solution that can change the future of finance," Park said.

"The goal is to equip an intelligent AI platform across the organization, to use it transparently and responsibly throughout all operations."