Korea Investment & Securities Co. said on the 17th that it signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU) with global asset manager JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) to provide expanded investment solutions and global insights.
At the signing ceremony held that morning at the headquarters of Korea Investment & Securities Co. in Yeouido, Seoul, President Kim Seong-hwan of Korea Investment & Securities Co. and Dan Watkins, head of Asia Pacific at JP Morgan Asset Management, attended along with key officials from both companies.
JP Morgan Asset Management is an asset manager under JP Morgan Chase Group, the world's largest financial group, and has $4.2 trillion (about 6,300 trillion won) in assets under management (AUM).
The agreement includes a wide range of cooperation measures: ▲ expanding domestic sales of JPMAM's global products ▲ exclusive provision of global market insights to individual clients of Korea Investment & Securities Co. through the mobile trading system (MTS) ▲ regular exchanges of views on investment strategy ▲ co-hosting events for retail clients ▲ cooperation on expanding the business of Korea Investment & Securities Co.'s local subsidiaries.
Korea Investment & Securities Co. said the strategic cooperation is expected to be an important milestone in the long-standing partnership between the two companies.
After Dan Watkins visited the headquarters of Korea Investment & Securities Co. in Oct. last year and discussed cooperation measures for domestic investors with President Kim Seong-hwan, the related details were quickly fleshed out, and starting on the 9th, the "JP Morgan Global High Yield Fund," with a monthly distribution structure, was sold exclusively through Korea Investment & Securities Co. As of the previous day, about 81.2 billion won in retail funds had been raised for this product. Korea Investment & Securities Co. said it plans to use this as a starting point to expand the supply of financial products that utilize a variety of underlying assets, including global growth stocks and bonds.
President Kim Seong-hwan said, "I am pleased that through cooperation with JP Morgan Asset Management we can provide clients with professional and differentiated global investment solutions," and added, "We will do our best to help domestic investors easily participate in quality investment destinations in global markets and grow their assets."