India’s Sharekhan acquisition adds a major retail and wealth-management platform to its long-term global strategy
Mirae Asset Securities is beginning to see its decades-long global expansion translate into a meaningful source of earnings, marking a potential turning point in the overseas ambitions of South Korea’s brokerage industry.
The company’s overseas subsidiaries generated approximately KRW 609.1 billion ($440 million) in pre-tax profit in the second quarter of 2026, accounting for about 24% of consolidated pre-tax earnings. The contribution rose by six percentage points from the previous quarter, while return on equity at its overseas operations reached 24.8%.
The geographical distribution is equally notable. The United States accounted for 37% of overseas subsidiary earnings, followed by Hong Kong at 35%, London at 18% and India at 5%.
Rather than relying heavily on a single market, Mirae Asset is increasingly generating profits across major financial centers and emerging markets. That suggests its overseas network is moving beyond the investment phase and becoming an increasingly important part of the group’s earnings structure.
From Korean Brokerage to Global Financial Platform
Mirae Asset’s overseas ambitions are not new.
Its international expansion stretches back decades, with operations established across major markets including the United States, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia and India.
What has changed is the role those businesses are beginning to play.
Overseas operations are increasingly expanding beyond securities brokerage into investment banking, principal investment, wealth management and other financial services.
That distinction matters.
For Korean securities companies, international expansion has traditionally meant establishing overseas offices and providing Korean investors with access to foreign assets. Mirae Asset is attempting something more ambitious: building businesses capable of acquiring local clients, managing local assets and generating earnings within their respective markets.
The strategy could ultimately make the geographical location of its earnings almost as important as their absolute size.
India Emerges as a Test of Mirae Asset’s Long-Term Strategy
India provides perhaps the clearest example.
Mirae Asset completed its acquisition of Indian brokerage Sharekhan in 2024, adding an established retail securities franchise to its existing digital brokerage platform, m.Stock.
Sharekhan, founded in 1995, has more than 3.2 million customers and an extensive nationwide distribution network. Its customer assets exceed INR 3 trillion, providing Mirae Asset with a substantial local client base rather than simply an overseas operating license.
This changes the nature of Mirae Asset’s position in India.
Instead of operating primarily as a foreign financial institution deploying Korean capital overseas, the company now has infrastructure that allows it to participate directly in one of the world’s fastest-growing retail investment and wealth-management markets.
Mirae Asset has also set ambitious targets.
Under its “Vision 2030” strategy, the company aims to expand wealth-management assets under management in India to INR 8 trillion by 2030, while transforming Sharekhan from a brokerage-focused business into a broader wealth-management platform.
For Mirae Asset, India therefore represents more than another overseas subsidiary. It is a test of whether a Korean financial institution can build a major consumer-facing financial franchise outside its home market.
Why the 24% Matters
For years, the success of Korean financial companies’ overseas expansion was often measured by the number of countries entered or subsidiaries established.
That benchmark is becoming less relevant.
The more important question is whether those overseas operations can consistently generate returns on the capital invested in them.
This is why Mirae Asset Securities’ 24% overseas contribution to consolidated pre-tax profit deserves attention.
South Korea remains the company’s core market, and its domestic businesses continue to expand. Second-quarter brokerage commission income increased 36% from the previous quarter to KRW 625.6 billion, while financial-product sales commissions reached a record KRW 131 billion.
The emerging structure is therefore not one in which overseas operations replace the Korean business.
Instead, Mirae Asset is developing a second earnings engine alongside its domestic franchise.
That diversification could become increasingly important as Korean securities companies contend with a mature domestic market and seek new sources of long-term growth.
Redefining What a Korean Securities Firm Can Become
Challenges remain.
Global financial markets are volatile, international acquisitions require difficult integration work, and markets such as India place Mirae Asset in direct competition with established domestic and global financial institutions.
Yet the latest earnings provide evidence that the company’s long-term global strategy is beginning to produce measurable results.
The significance of KRW 609.1 billion in overseas pre-tax profit goes beyond one strong quarter. It suggests that the capital and management resources invested abroad over decades are gradually creating an earnings structure that is less dependent on South Korea alone.
Mirae Asset is pursuing two different models simultaneously: strengthening investment capabilities in established financial hubs such as the United States and Hong Kong while building a large-scale retail and wealth-management franchise in India.
Few Korean securities firms have attempted international expansion on this scale.
The next stage of competition for Mirae Asset Securities may therefore be defined less by its ranking among Korean brokerages and more by how successfully it can turn its global network into a sustainable financial platform.
For years, globalization was largely a story about where Mirae Asset invested.
Increasingly, it is becoming a story about where Mirae Asset earns.
