(pictured: Ashley Dale)
After successfully exporting its Asia ex-Japan capability to Europe and, more recently, Latin America, international equity newcomer to Australia, Mirae Asset Global Investments, last week launched its flagship alpha strategies.
Ashley Dale, Hong Kong-based chief marketing officer and head of international business development, formally introduced the Korean-owned manager and its Australian-based head of sales, Chris Wildman, to super funds and consultants.
He said that, while Mirae had a full range of strategies and managed about US$77 billion throughout the region, for Australia the manager would be emphasising its Asia Sector Leader Equity Fund and its thematic Asian “consumer” fund. Like most of Mirae’s strategies, they are both actively managed benchmark-agnostic concentrated portfolios.
Dale said that the rising middle class was a strong theme through many emerging markets, especially in Asia, which meant a shift in buying habits. One example was a move away from buying “things”, such as luxury goods, say by middle-class Chinese, to buying “experiences”, such as tourism.
Mirae’s style could be described as GARP (growth at the right price), with the analysts trying to anticipate turning points in a company’s earnings cycle. The sector leader fund has about 50 stocks and the consumer fund about 30.
While the exposure is to Asia ex-Japan, not all stocks are domiciled in the region. For instance, one of the fund’s largest holdings is an Indian IT company listed on the Nasdaq.
Dale said that Mirae would be launching some Australian-domiciled unit trusts “in due course”. Its European-based UCITS funds have grown rapidly in the past two years, mainly due to European flows, from about US$400 million to $2 billion.
“Everyone is underweight Asia ex-Japan and emerging markets at the moment,” Dale said, “but we’ve seen some very good flows… We believe the timing is right to provide our services and expertise on Asia to the Australian wholesale investment market.”
Dale launched Mirae’s London office in 2009 and then moved to Hong Kong the following year. He said it was very important for the firm to have an on-the-ground presence in Australia. As previously reported, Wildman was recruited from AMP Capital and has been working on the launch for the past couple of months.
Mirae is the oldest – founded in 1998 – and largest Korean fund manager, providing mandates and funds across all major asset classes.