Asset managers' H1 net gains 11.5 pct

SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- Total earnings by asset management firms in South Korea rose 11.5 percent in the first half of fiscal 2008 as fee income increased on steady money inflows into funds, the financial watchdog said Tuesday.

The combined net profits of 64 local and foreign asset managers came to 285.4
billion won (US$191.8 million) in the April-September period, compared with 256
billion won from a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said.
"Asset managers' earnings rose amid the volatile stock market as an average
deposit of funds grew in the first half ending Sept. 30, compared with a year
ago," the FSS said.
An average deposit of total funds reached 338.9 trillion won in the first half,
up 20.5 percent from a year earlier. Equity-type funds grew 46.2 percent on-year
to 125.6 trillion won, the FSS said.
"But the growth of earnings by asset managers are expected to slow down in the
second half as fund deposits have sharply fallen since the end of June amid the
slumping stock market," the watchdog said.
South Korea's share prices fell more than 15 percent mainly due to heavy foreign
selling in the April-September period.
As of the end of September, total assets under management reached 301.1 trillion
won, down 2.2 percent from a year ago.
Currently, a total of 64 asset managers are operating in South Korea, 19 of which
are foreign firms. They close their books on March 31.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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