Mirae Asset Financial Group Chairman Park Hyeon-joo, right, receives a golden pig from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Cash Market Trading Division Vice President David Lo during a ceremony to directly list Mirae’s fund product, Monday. / Courtesy of Mirae Asset
By Oh Young-jin

Mirae Asset Financial Group, led by its Chairman Park Hyeon-joo, has become the first Korean asset management firm to have its exchange-traded fund (ETF) directly listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK).

According to Mirae officials, Park participated in a ceremony at the SEHK for the listing of the Mirae Asset Tiger KOSPI 200 ETF, worth 130 billion won that was raised overseas, for immediate trading.

The listing allows individual investors, asset managers and institutional investors to directly invest in the 200 blue chip firms on Korea’s stock exchange.

“Asia is, strategically speaking, the most important area for Mirae,” Park was quoted as saying during the ceremony. “Mirae’s ETF listing reconfirms our vision and strongpoint as a leading investor in emerging markets.”

Prior to Mirae, Samsung Asset Management had its KOSPI 200 or Kodex 200 indirectly listed on the Tokyo stock exchange.

Lee Tae-yong, executive vice president of Mirae Asset MAPS, said that before the noon break, already 2 million shares had been purchased, which amounted to 6 billion won.

“I believe that many investors are interested in Korea, with the strong showing in the first-day of trading proving it,” Lee told The Korea Times in a telephone interview from Hong Kong.

Lee said that there would be more meetings with analysts in Hong Kong to let them know more about attractions that Korea offers to global investors. Lee said that Chairman Park is separately plugging the product.