[Asia Exclusive] COVID-19 Triggered Massive Money Move... WM Leads Industry to Achieve Pre-Tax Profit of 1 Trillion Won First

Average of 100,000 New Non-Face-to-Face Accounts Opened Monthly
High-Net-Worth Individuals Over 100 Million KRW Up 39% in Q3
Pension Assets Surpass 17 Trillion KRW for the First Time in Securities Industry

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Last year, thanks to the strong performance of the Wealth Management (WM) division, Mirae Asset Daewoo's results also grew significantly. In particular, it is estimated that the pre-tax profit reached 1 trillion KRW for the first time in the industry.

According to financial information provider FnGuide on the 25th, Mirae Asset Daewoo's consensus for last year's annual results is an operating profit of 1.0388 trillion KRW and a net profit attributable to controlling shareholders of 815.5 billion KRW. These figures represent increases of 17.64% and 42.69%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

It is highly likely that the pre-tax profit of 1 trillion KRW was achieved for the first time in the industry. Mirae Asset Daewoo recorded a cumulative pre-tax profit of 872.3 billion KRW through the third quarter of last year.

The growth in the WM division's performance stood out. Due to the increased volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a market environment close to zero interest rates, a large amount of funds flowed into the stock market, and the number of new customers increased significantly. The number of new accounts opened on a non-face-to-face basis rose from an average of 35,000 accounts per month in the previous year to over 100,000 accounts per month last year. The number of high-net-worth individuals also increased sharply. The number of customers with assets over 100 million KRW reached 216,416 by the third quarter of last year, a 39% increase compared to the same period the previous year.

Overseas stock assets also grew to 17 trillion KRW. Mirae Asset Daewoo's overseas stock assets have rapidly increased, starting with surpassing 1 trillion KRW in 2017, reaching 2.9 trillion KRW at the end of 2017, 4.4 trillion KRW at the end of 2018, and 7.2 trillion KRW at the end of 2019. The profits of customers investing in overseas stocks exceeded 3.4 trillion KRW as of mid-December. This is the profit earned by customers through overseas investments over about four years since the merger of Mirae Asset Daewoo in 2017. It was found that 88% of the total investment profits were generated by WM customers. In particular, there was a difference in returns depending on whether a WM manager was assigned: overseas stock investors with managers recorded a 54% return during the same period, while unmanaged overseas stock investors recorded a 30% return.

Pension assets also surpassed 17 trillion KRW (retirement and personal pensions) in the third quarter of last year, marking a first in the securities industry. As of the end of the third quarter, Mirae Asset Daewoo ranked first among all retirement pension providers with a 1-year return of 4.8% for defined contribution (DC) plans, and its individual retirement pension (IRP) return was 4.04%, ranking first for two consecutive quarters. Mirae Asset Daewoo was the only provider to record returns above 4% for both DC and IRP plans across all providers.

Overseas subsidiaries have also maintained steady growth. Mirae Asset Daewoo's overseas subsidiaries posted a pre-tax net profit of 170.9 billion KRW in 2019, a 102.4% increase from the previous year, and recorded a pre-tax net profit of 174.1 billion KRW through the third quarter of last year, surpassing the entire previous year's performance.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.