Asset Management Companies Continue to Improve Performance... Q3 Net Profit Reaches 944.7 Billion Won

FSS Announces Third Quarter 2025 Asset Management Company Results
Index Gains Drive Capital Inflows
Assets Under Management Reach 1,868.8 Trillion Won

In the third quarter of this year, domestic asset management companies continued to show improved performance following the previous quarter. The rise in stock indices, resulting in increased management fees, as well as higher returns from proprietary investments, drove these results.

According to the "Third Quarter 2025 Asset Management Company Operating Performance (Preliminary)" report released by the Financial Supervisory Service on December 1, the net profit for asset management companies in the third quarter stood at 944.7 billion won as of the end of September, an increase of 89.2 billion won (10.4%) compared to the previous quarter. This figure represents a surge of 128.5% compared to the same period last year (413.4 billion won).

Operating profit reached 996.3 billion won, up 257.4 billion won (34.8%) from the previous quarter. The return on equity (ROE) also rose by 1.3 percentage points, from 20.6% to 21.9%.

Among the 501 asset management companies that did not submit business reports, 299 companies (59.7%) recorded a profit, while 202 companies (40.3%) posted a loss. The proportion of public offering management companies in the red decreased by 6.4 percentage points, from 20.5% to 14.1%. In contrast, the proportion of private equity management companies in the red increased by 2.3 percentage points, from 42.9% to 45.2%, highlighting a divergence in performance by sector.

In terms of revenue composition, fee income in the third quarter was 1.5137 trillion won, an increase of 307.7 billion won (25.5%) from the previous quarter. Of this, fund-related fees and discretionary advisory fees amounted to 1.2477 trillion won and 266 billion won, respectively, representing increases of 24.9% and 28.6%.

Securities investment gains were 217 billion won, a decrease of 66.3 billion won (23.4%) compared to the previous quarter. However, compared to the same period last year, the figure turned positive. Selling and administrative expenses were 740.5 billion won, down 3.0% from the previous quarter.

The total assets under management (AUM) for all 505 asset management companies were tallied at 1,868.8 trillion won. This is an increase of 69.4 trillion won (3.9%) compared to the end of June this year (1,799.4 trillion won).

Fund assets under custody amounted to 1,226.8 trillion won, an increase of 58.1 trillion won (5.0%) from the previous quarter. Of this, public offering funds reached 534.1 trillion won, up 43.3 trillion won (8.8%), while private equity funds under custody increased by 14.8 trillion won (2.2%) to 692.7 trillion won. Discretionary investment contracts increased by 11.3 trillion won (1.8%) to 642 trillion won.

The Financial Supervisory Service analyzed that the improvement in asset management companies' performance was largely due to the rise in stock indices and capital inflows driven by expectations for government policies. However, it pointed out that the growth in the public offering fund market has been concentrated in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), while traditional public offering funds have remained stagnant.

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