KB Asset Management won the 2016 Dasan Financial Award in the Asset Management Sector at a Jan. 3 New Year’s gathering for the financial community at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul.
The asset management company clinched the award in recognition of its having the most diverse portfolio of financial products among the asset management firms in the country. It was notable because the company can count on any of its products to produce a profit to stabilize the company’s earnings, meaning it’s not dependent on common financial products such as stocks and bonds.
Thanks to having the most diverse business portfolio, the company has been able to catch up with the top two asset management firms in Korea, including Samsung Asset Management and Mirae Asset Management, to be counted among the top three asset management firms in the country, even though it was listed among the smaller asset management firms only a decade or so ago.
The company has seen its assets expand fast of late, with assets at the end of Q3 last year amounting to 52.86 trillion won, up 3.5 trillion won year-on-year, unlike its rivals who have had tough time. The total assets as of the end of Q3 last year represented a 77.84 percent increase from 29.72 trillion won at the end of 2012.
The retirement fund sector has boosted KB Asset Management’s performance, with some 37 percent of retirees around the country opting to open accounts with KB Asset’s retirement fund, putting the company on top of the retirement fund management market. Total retirement funds have risen to 2.381 trillion won, amounting to 22.1 percent of the total retirement fund market, amounting to 8.9 trillion won, managed by the asset management firms in the country.
KB Asset Management is an investment arm and a member company of KB Financial Group, a larg financial conglomerate headquartered in Korea.
KB Asset Management is one of the oldest and most established asset managers in Korea. The company provides investment management services across all major asset classes and has a wide range of investment products covering various geographic locations and catering to the investment needs of diverse client base, from retail individual investors to sophisticated institutional investors like pensions and life insurance companies.
KB Asset Management Co. is expected to establish its first overseas subsidiary in Singapore next year in a move to enhance global competitiveness to seek solutions to overcome the South Korea’s overall sluggish fund market. The asset manager is also considering setting up an office in the United States to expand global infrastructure investment that is expected to get a boost under the incoming Donald Trump administration. KB Asset Management’s plan to set up an overseas subsidiary in Singapore in March has already been approved and internally reviewed, according to multiple sources from the asset management industry. A group of working-level employees will visit the Southeast Asian country to speed up operations.
Lee Hee-kwon, president and chief executive of KB Asset Management, said that the company has decided to set up the subsidiary to make a foray into overseas markets. The subsidiary will first start off as a hedge fund-exclusive manager before turning into a comprehensive asset management company down the road, Lee added.
It is the first time KB Asset Management has set up an overseas subsidiary.
The company is considered a late-comer in tapping other markets compared to rivals Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. and Samsung Asset Management Co., which have moved swiftly in setting up overseas subsidiaries in major markets including the U.S. and China.
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