Hana Financial Group plans to merge its two asset management subsidiaries later this year as part of CEO Ham Young-joo’s strategy to strengthen the company’s non-banking business segment, according to industry sources.
The South Korean financial conglomerate will combine Hana Asset Management, which manages 36.66 trillion won ($25.1 billion) in assets, with its alternative investment arm Hana Alternative Asset Management, which oversees 12 trillion won ($8.2 billion) in real estate and infrastructure investments.
The merger would create one of South Korea’s top 10 asset managers with approximately 50 trillion won ($34.2 billion) in assets under management, though still far behind domestic rivals like KB Asset’s 222.56 trillion won and Shinhan Asset’s 161 trillion won.
Despite Hana Alternative’s smaller size, it generates substantially higher profits—earning 25.5 billion won in 2024 compared to Hana Asset’s 5.4 billion won during the same period.
Ham, who is entering his second three-year term as CEO, announced last month his goal to increase non-banking services’ contribution to the group’s net profit from the current 16% to 30%. The group reported a 3.77 trillion won ($2.6 billion) net profit in 2024.
Before the merger, Hana Financial will first make Hana Asset Management its wholly owned subsidiary by acquiring it from Hana Securities. The asset manager was initially established as a UBS joint venture in 2007 before becoming fully owned by the group in 2023.
