South Korea-headquartered Mirae Asset Global Investments and its New York-based subsidiary Global X ETFs have completed the acquisition of ETF Securities, an independent provider of exchange-traded funds in Australia.  Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition allows Mirae Asset to expand in the Australian market, and add ETF Securities’ product line-up to its current offerings of ETF solutions for global investors.

Mirae Asset currently has an extensive global ETF platform spanning the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The addition of ETF Securities’ A$4.7 billion (US$3.3 billion) of assets under management brings Mirae Asset’s ETF AUM to over US$85 billion.

“This acquisition underscores Mirae Asset’s continued commitment to maintaining industry-leading ETF businesses in key markets around the world and brings immediate scale to our operations in Australia,” says Mirae Asset chief executive officer Byungsung Lee.

For ETF Securities, the partnership allows the Australian firm to benefit from the resources of a large financial institution, including more than 12,000 employees in key developed and emerging markets. It also gains access to Global X’s resources and expertise, including its research and product development capabilities. 

ETF Securities has been in the ETF business over the past 20 years, introducing the world’s first physical gold ETF in 2003, maintaining the largest precious metals ETF platform in Australia, and expanding its offering to include a growing range of thematic and digital assets products. “As true innovators in the ETF industry around the world, Mirae Asset and Global X are like-minded – undeniably sharing our Australian teams’ visionary mindset and commitment to client service,” notes ETF Securities founder and chairman Graham Tuckwell.

Global X ETFs, founded in 2008, boasts over 90 ETF strategies and AUM of over US$40 billion. “By joining forces, we are able to share resources to provide Australian investors with truly first-of-their-kind ETFs across thematic, commodities and digital assets,” says Global X CEO Luis Berruga.