Park Hyeon-joo
Overview
Park Hyeon-joo (박현주) is a businessperson who founded Mirae Asset in 1997 and transformed the landscape of South Korea's asset management industry. Starting from the sales floor of a securities firm, he popularized the concept of funds (indirect investment) and later grew Mirae Asset Financial Group into a global asset manager. He is well known for his investment principle of 'buy in a crisis and hold for the long term' and for his efforts to pioneer overseas markets.
Key Details
Background and Entry into Securities
Park Hyeon-joo is known to have been born in the early 1960s, received education in business and economics at university, and then entered the securities industry. While working in sales and investment at Dongwon Securities (now Yuanta Securities), he learned the structure of the domestic capital market and directly experienced the narrow market structure centered on individual investors and the problem of information asymmetry. This experience later led to his belief that 'ordinary citizens should also be able to share in the management capabilities of experts.'
Founding Mirae Asset in 1997
Establishing Mirae Asset in 1997, just before the foreign exchange crisis, is evaluated as one of his representative decisions. At the time, asset management was still the domain of a small number of institutions, but he put fund sales and asset management services at the forefront and created a new market. In the 2000s, as the 'fund boom' took hold, Mirae Asset grew rapidly and expanded its business into securities, asset management, insurance, and capital to build the framework of a comprehensive financial group.
Expansion into Global Asset Management
Park Hyeon-joo targeted overseas markets early on. He built a global management network by establishing management entities in Hong Kong, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States and hiring local personnel. In particular, the 2018 acquisition of Global X, a U.S. exchange-traded fund (ETF) manager, is regarded as a symbolic event in the group's expansion of its global ETF business. Since then, he has broadened contact points with overseas retail investors centering on the ETF lineup and expanded business in India, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere.
Management Philosophy and Investment Principles
His management philosophy is summarized as 'long-term investment' and 'contrarian thinking.' He buys assets when the market is gripped by fear and evaluates corporate value over a horizon of more than 10 years rather than short-term performance. In organizational management, he emphasizes the principle that 'talent is an asset,' focusing on establishing a long-term development system for fund managers and research personnel. He has also presented ethics and trust as top values given the nature of the business of managing client assets.
Social Contribution and Educational Support
Mirae Asset has engaged in various social contribution activities, including scholarship programs, financial education, and sponsorship of culture and the arts. Park Hyeon-joo himself has shown interest in expanding educational opportunities and nurturing talent, and is known to have participated in supporting programs to develop capital market personnel.
Latest Trends
In 2024–2025, Mirae Asset Financial Group is broadening the horizon of asset management from traditional assets to AI infrastructure, data centers, and digital assets. While attracting overseas retail funds centering on its global ETF business, it has also successively launched indirect investment products for unlisted high-tech companies, strengthening its 'future industry' theme. Acquisition and partnership discussions related to entering the virtual asset market have been reported in the press, and its expansion of investment channels for space and deep-tech companies such as SpaceX has also drawn attention. As group chairman, Park Hyeon-joo presents the overall direction of management while being evaluated as facing tasks such as succession, organizational restructuring, and advanced global management capabilities. In South Korea, competition in asset management services is intensifying in response to institutional changes such as retirement pensions and Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), and his 'long-term investment' philosophy is being highlighted again.
Related Topics
- [[Mirae Asset Financial Group]]
- [[Asset Management]]
- [[Exchange-Traded Fund]]
- [[Global X]]
- [[Indirect Investment]]