"Fee Income from Investment Advisory and Discretionary Firms Surpasses 2.2 Trillion Won, Up 1 Trillion in a Year"

Financial Supervisory Service Releases 2025 Business Year Results for Investment Advisory and Discretionary Firms

Last year, fee income from investment advisory and discretionary management firms increased by over 1 trillion won, surpassing the 2 trillion won mark.

According to the "2025 Business Year Operating Performance of Investment Advisory and Discretionary Management Services" released by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 13th, the fee income of standalone investment advisory and discretionary management firms from April last year to March this year stood at 2.2505 trillion won, an increase of 1.0262 trillion won (83.8%) compared to the previous year. As of the end of March, contract volume also grew by 114.2 trillion won (15.4%) year-on-year to 857.1 trillion won.

Standalone investment advisory and discretionary management firms are financial companies that provide investment advice on targets and methods, or manage assets on behalf of clients under discretionary agreements. As of the end of March, there were a total of 830 firms—376 with dual licenses and 454 dedicated standalone companies.

First, contract volume for dual-license investment advisory and discretionary management firms, which include asset management companies, securities firms, and banks, reached a total of 814.8 trillion won, an increase of 93.2 trillion won (12.9%) from the previous year. By industry, asset management companies (711.5 trillion won) mainly held discretionary contracts with insurance companies and pension funds, while securities firms (100.8 trillion won) primarily had discretionary contracts with individuals and general corporations.

The fee income of dual-license firms totaled 1.805 trillion won, up 791.5 billion won (78.1%) from a year earlier. Of this, discretionary management fees made up the majority at 1.6 trillion won. By industry, securities firms accounted for 715.3 billion won, followed by banks with 7 billion won.

A Financial Supervisory Service official stated, "Growth is evident in managing institutional discretionary assets such as those of insurance companies and pension funds, primarily by asset management companies," and added, "Amid stock market revitalization and increased market liquidity, demand from individual investors to entrust their asset management to professionals at advisory and discretionary firms is also rising."

Standalone firms solely dedicated to investment advisory and discretionary management also saw an increase in contract volume. As of the end of March, it reached 42.3 trillion won, a year-on-year rise of 21 trillion won (98.6%). Net profit was 412.9 billion won, representing a dramatic increase of 391.2 billion won (1,802%).

The proportion of profitable standalone firms also rose. Out of 434 standalone firms overall, 305 were profitable, showing a marked improvement to 67.2% from 40.2% the previous year. This is analyzed to be the result of a sharp increase in fee income (445.5 billion won) and proprietary asset management gains (340 billion won) due to a bullish stock market. Meanwhile, the number of loss-making firms decreased by 116 to 149 from the previous year.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service, "We will continue inspecting and monitoring various risk factors, considering characteristics such as industry, company size, and types of managed assets," adding, "We plan to analyze the current status and risks of generative artificial intelligence (AI)-based investment advisory services and overseas cases, and seek supervisory measures for investment advisory services to better protect domestic investors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.