Thanks to last year's stock market boom, the size and profitability of the investment advisory and discretionary management industry improved significantly. In particular, as full-service firms that focus on investment advisory and discretionary management saw a surge in contracts and assets under management, net profit increased by nearly 19 times.
According to the "2025 business year investment advisory and discretionary management operating results" released by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 13th, as of the end of Mar., the total value of contracts at domestic investment advisory and discretionary management firms was 857.1 trillion won, up 114.2 trillion won (15.4%) from the previous year (742.9 trillion won).
Investment advisory contracts totaled 45.5 trillion won, up 13.3 trillion won (41.3%) from the previous year (32.2 trillion won). Discretionary management contracts reached 811.6 trillion won, an increase of 100.9 trillion won (14.2%).
Most of the total contract value came from affiliated firms where existing financial companies such as asset management companies, securities companies, and banks concurrently engage in investment advisory and discretionary management. Affiliated firms' contracts totaled 814.8 trillion won, accounting for 95.1% of the total. In particular, asset management companies' discretionary contracts were the largest at 687.9 trillion won. Asset management companies that manage large-scale funds entrusted by institutional investors such as insurers and pension funds accounted for most of the market.
By contrast, full-service firms whose main business is investment advisory and discretionary management showed standout growth. Full-service firms' contracts totaled 42.3 trillion won, up 98.6% from the previous year (21.3 trillion won). Among these, discretionary contracts surged to 23.3 trillion won, up 206.6% from the previous year (7.6 trillion won).
Assets under discretionary management actually in operation also increased sharply. As of the end of Mar., full-service firms' discretionary assets under management stood at 26.7 trillion won, up 233.8% from the previous year (8 trillion won). In particular, equity securities under management jumped from 3.6 trillion won to 20.2 trillion won, a surge of 461.1%. Accordingly, the share of equity securities in total discretionary assets expanded from 45.3% to 75.7%.
As the increase in assets under management and improved investment gains from the rising stock market aligned, full-service firms' profitability also improved significantly. From Apr. last year to Mar. this year, net income of full-service investment advisory and discretionary management firms was 412.9 billion won, up 391.2 billion won (1,802.8%) from the previous year (21.7 billion won).
Fee revenue was 445.5 billion won, up 111.3% from the previous year (210.8 billion won). Of this, discretionary management fees rose to 232 billion won, up 300.7% from the previous year. Proprietary investment gains were 340 billion won, a sharp increase of 955.9% from the previous year (32.2 billion won).