Mirae Asset names new CEO at HK manufacturing centre
The incoming chief executive of Mirae Asset’s international AM arm in Hong Kong says he aims to continue rolling out emerging market products when he starts his new role next month.
Mirae Asset Global Investments (Hong Kong) – the international asset management business of Mirae Asset – announced yesterday that Jung Ho Rhee had been promoted to CEO, effective from May 2. He will be responsible for investments, operations, sales/marketing and administration.
The HK office is the main manufacturing centre for the group’s Asia-Pacific and China investment funds. As at the end of February it had about $6 billion in AUM (a 25% drop from the end of 2010), or 11% of Mirae Asset Global Investment Group’s $54.7 billion in assets.
The global asset management business has 144 investment professionals and a presence in Hong Kong, China, Korea, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brazil, the UK, Canada and the US.
Rhee’s promotion comes after previous CEO Woong Park quit after just a year in the role “for personal reasons”. His tenure officially ends on May 2, the day Rhee takes up the reins.
Park had only worked as CEO since January 2011, having been international chief marketing officer for Mirae Asset Global Investments Group before that. He did not respond to AsianInvestor enquiries on his future destination or reasons for leaving.
Rhee is a senior Mirae Asset executive director who presently heads the firm’s global asset allocation division. His replacement in this role has not yet been finalised, a spokesman says.
Rhee was unavailable for interview, but in a statement Mirae points to his role in the group’s investment process and in formulating the firm’s macro and country/sector allocation strategies.
Rhee talks about the opportunity to take Mirae Asset’s Hong Kong business on to the next stage of its international growth, referring specifically to the firm’s capabilities in emerging market equities.
“We will continue to roll out new products to give investors a broader range of choices when it comes to investing in the emerging markets,” he is quoted as saying.
Mirae Asset’s international asset management arm focuses on Asia-Pacific and EM investments. Its fund range includes equity products that cover China, Korea and India as well as an Asia-Pacific fund. It also invests in global stocks via a Sicav vehicle incorporated in Luxembourg.
Separately it has the Mirae Asset Tiger ETF series, as well as an alternatives suite including structured products, private equity funds, hedge funds, real estate funds and commodity funds.
Prior to his role with Mirae Asset Global Investments (HK), Rhee served as managing director of global research and chief financial officer at Mirae Asset Securities (HK), where he led the proprietary investment team in managing over $300 million globally.
He has also worked at Mirae Asset Securities in Seoul as an investment strategist and subsequently head of Asia-Pacific research.