Mirae Asset acquires Australian company in global AI push

Mirae Asset Global Investments has acquired robo-advisor Stockspot, securing 53 percent of the Sydney-based firm worth 28 million Australian dollars ($18 million), the financial firm announced Wednesday.

Mirae Asset Global Investments has acquired Australian robo-advisor Stockspot, the financial company announced Wednesday. [STOCKSPOT]

Mirae Asset Global Investments has acquired robo-advisor Stockspot, securing 53 percent of the Sydney-based firm worth 28 million Australian dollars ($18 million), the financial firm announced Wednesday.

The deal makes Mirae Asset the first Korean financial company to acquire an overseas robo-advisor. Mirae Asset plans to buy the remaining stake of the company under a predetermined option contract.

A robo-advisor is a digital service that provides clients with AI-driven financial planning and investment strategies based on algorithms and big data analysis.

Stockspot, founded in 2013, is a leading robo-advisor in Australia, managing assets worth 650 million Australian dollars as of June.

Mirae Asset Global Investments, having long sought to acquire a robo-advisor, is looking to penetrate the AI-based financial service market following the Stockspot purchase. Leading global asset managers BlackRock took over FutureAdvisor in 2015 and Goldman Sachs bought Honest Dollar in 2016.

The user interface of Stockspot [STOCKSPOT]

Mirae Asset is also eyeing the Australian pension market by making the most of synergies between its existing Australian subsidiary Global X Australia and Stockspot. Australia has the fourth-largest pension market in the world after the United States, Britain and the Netherlands.

Stockspot currently provides advisory services for self-managed super funds — private retirement fund accounts — which constitute around 30 percent of the Australian pension market.

“The Stockspot acquisition will be one of the initial steps to enter the AI and robo markets fueling the future growth engine in not only Australia but also the global financial market,” said Park Hyeon-joo, founder and global strategy officer at Mirae Asset Financial Group.

Mirae Asset Global Investments oversees assets worth 287 trillion won ($214.6 billion) in 14 regions, including the United States, Japan, Canada and Hong Kong.

It manages ETFs worth 130 trillion won worldwide as of July, which is 30 percent bigger than the size of Korea’s ETF market.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]