Hana UBS Asset Management, Standing Alone Without 'UBS'

Hana UBS Asset Management is parting ways with the Swiss financial group UBS. It will remove UBS from its name and make a fresh start.

According to industry sources on the 20th, the Financial Services Commission conditionally approved the change of major shareholder for Hana UBS Asset Management at its regular meeting on the 15th.

Following the Financial Services Commission's decision, Hana Securities will be able to acquire 51% of Hana UBS Asset Management's shares from UBS after the end of August this year, when the disqualification factors for the largest shareholder are resolved, making Hana UBS Asset Management a wholly owned subsidiary.

Once the change of major shareholder is completed, Hana UBS Asset Management can remove ‘UBS’ from its name. The new company name is likely to be Hana Asset Management. Going forward, Hana UBS Asset Management is expected to resolve governance uncertainties and actively compete to expand its market share.

In July 2007, Hana Securities sold 51% of the predecessor of Hana UBS Asset Management, Daehan Investment Trust Management, to UBS to launch a joint venture asset management company. In September 2017, Hana Securities announced it would end the joint venture and repurchase 51% of the shares from UBS, but approval for the change of major shareholder was delayed for nearly six years due to allegations of preferential loans related to the political scandal.

In August last year, Hana Securities received an institutional warning from financial authorities due to incomplete sales of private equity funds. According to the Financial Company Governance Supervision Regulations, if a financial company intends to become the largest shareholder of another financial company, it must not have received any institutional warnings in the past year, which had been a disqualifying factor for the largest shareholder.

Meanwhile, as of the end of June last year, Hana UBS Asset Management's net assets stood at 24.9 trillion won, ranking it among the top 10 in the asset management industry. Money Market Funds (MMFs) account for 73% of its managed assets.