Seoul, June 6: Korea-based Mirae Asset Financial Group is set to take its wealth management and investment banking businesses to India. It has recently set up its mutual fund business in the country.

“We’ll soon set up our securities business in India,” said Hyeon Joo Park, chairman of Mirae Asset Financial Group. The securities business of the group includes wealth management, stock broking, investment banking, venture capital and private equity.

“Our focus in India will be on wealth management and investment banking, including venture capital and private equity,” Park said.

Mirae recently started its mutual fund business and the Indian asset management company manages assets worth Rs 2,400 crore ($600 million). In Korea, Mirae Asset Management Company has 10 India-dedicated funds, with $350 million of assets under management.

“This is about 13 per cent of our global assets,” said a senior official of the Mirae.

“We are also eager to enter into the real estate development business, particularly in commercial and social infrastructure space. But the current regulations don’t allow us to invest directly into real estate,” Park said.

According to Park, Mirae, which manages assets worth $132.6 billion, is open to mergers and acquisitions to expand its businesses in India and in other countries.

However, it is not interested in the brokerage business “India and China are very important to us. We are also expanding to Brazil this year,” said Park. On the global economic situation, he said markets would get stable if global inflation and commodity prices cooled down, adding he was bullish on emerging markets such as India, China and Brazil.

“We have opened 23 branches across the country. Our current employee strength is over 140 with over 14 member investment research team,” Mirae Asset Global Investment Management (India) CEO Arindam Ghosh said.