[Market Insight] Hyun Kyung Lee, Vice President of Mirae Asset Management, "AI in Asset Management Focuses on Hyper-Personalization"

Interview with Vice President Lee Hyun-kyung of AI Financial Engineering Operations Division
"AI is an opportunity... Competitive globally"
"Contributing to future global operations based on AI"

"We plan to introduce hyper-personalized services using artificial intelligence (AI) in the future. Since each person has different tendencies and financial situations, AI is perfect for providing services tailored to individuals."

Hyun Kyung Lee, Head of AI Financial Engineering Operations Division (Vice President) at Mirae Asset Global Investments. Photo by Mirae Asset Global Investments

Lee Hyun-kyung, Head of AI Financial Engineering Operations Division (Vice President) at Mirae Asset Global Investments, recently said this in an interview with Asia Economy.

Vice President Lee has been leading the AI Financial Engineering Operations Division since 2021. The division manages AI quant funds, dividend premium funds, commodity funds, exchange-traded fund (ETF) advisory portfolios (EMP) asset allocation funds, target date fund (TDF) asset allocation funds, global index funds, and more.

The predecessor of the AI Financial Engineering Operations Division was the Financial Engineering Division. The name change occurred after the 2016 match between Google's DeepMind AI AlphaGo and former Go player Lee Sedol. He explained, "The match between Go player Lee Sedol and AlphaGo stimulated rapid advancements in AI technology," adding, "By actively applying AI to fund management, we have evolved into our current form."

Mirae Asset Global Investments actively utilizes AI from funds to advisory services. Lee said, "We started with a limited approach of managing funds using AI and have expanded to unified services from management to trading, such as retirement pension robo-advisors and global stock individual portfolio advisory services," adding, "Personalized index funds and institutional AI portfolio advisory services are also underway."

He describes AI's greatest strengths as objectivity and consistency. While humans may have biases even when trying to be objective, AI does not. He explained, "Managers tend to be biased, believing their own views are the best," and added, "AI and quant strategies strictly exclude emotions when evaluating performance, enabling objective and consistent management."

Vice President Lee recalls the AI Global Momentum Fund's inflation response as a memorable example of AI utilization. It was a proper use of AI. He said, "From 2021, before inflation shocked the market, we responded by reducing bond allocations and increasing commodities through AI algorithms," adding, "Thanks to the advantage of consistently judging based on data without fixed human preconceptions, we were able to handle the inflation period well."

The Greatest Advantage of AI: Hyper-Personalization... An 'Opportunity' in the Pension Market

There are three main areas of focus going forward: global, personalization, and EMP advisory services. Vice President Lee said, "Since AI-based management starts on an equal footing with global players, we can compete worldwide," adding, "If we build investment strategies proven by returns and systems that are convenient from the investor's perspective, we can transcend physical boundaries."

He continued, "AI can objectively present optimized management strategies for each individual," emphasizing, "If approached well, individuals can manage their portfolios as expertly as professionals, and achieving this is one of our key goals."

He especially expects hyper-personalization through AI to be a significant advantage in the pension market. He predicted, "The greatest advantage of AI in the pension market is hyper-personalization," adding, "By assessing each individual's retirement timing, financial status, and risk preferences, we will move toward an era where individuals manage portfolios optimized for themselves."

Finally, his goal is to continuously develop funds that help clients earn money by actively utilizing AI technology. Alongside this, he plans to accelerate Mirae Asset Global Investments' globalization by creating products recognized by global investors.

He said, "I want to make a global market debut using AI," adding, "In the past, there were limitations due to prejudices such as 'funds managed in Korea,' but by showing numbers through AI, we can overcome these biases." He emphasized, "Through this, I want to contribute to Mirae Asset Global Investments growing into a world-class leader in AI-based management."