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The Mirae Asset Korea Equity Fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth by investing mainly in equities and equity-related securities of companies domiciled in or exercising a large portion of their economic activity in Korea. The Fund has been run by Sung Woo Kim on the back of a team approach. Mirae Asset Global Investments has a 15-strong Korean research team and an investment strategy committee (ISC) comprised of nine senior investment professionals, including Kim, with an average of 16 years' experience.

The Fund is top-decile in its peer group and has generated a 94.3% return since its inception in September 2008. By comparison, its benchmark, the KOSPI index has returned 48.4% over the same period. It has USD 171.9 million dollars in assets under management.

S&P explains the Fund’s upgrade, “Success has been founded on good security selection within the model portfolio but Kim has shown his ability to add value above that. The disciplined process and well-resourced and experienced team have produced a strong track record.”

The Fund’s portfolio contains mainly mid and large-cap growth stocks and currently has 29 holdings. The investment approach is bottom-up, focusing on the sustainable competitiveness and attractive risk/reward ratios of companies, but recognises that top-down views can play an important role at times. The top three sector holdings are currently materials, information technology and industrials (as of 31st December 2010). On a company basis, the Fund favours LG Chem, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Techwin.

Elliot Berman, Mirae Asset’s head of sales for EMEA comments: “We are delighted that the the Fund’s outstanding performance has been officially recognised by S&P with this rating upgrade. The Fund has outperformed convincingly, in both rising and falling markets and in spite of volatile conditions, and Sung Woo Kim and his team have consistently delivered added value to our investors.”

Commenting on the outlook for Korea, Sung Woo Kim, manager of the Mirae Asset Korea Equity Fund said: “Recently, Korea and other emerging markets have experienced a correction due to worries about inflation and temporary capital outflows from emerging markets. However, we believe that as time goes by investors will start to focus again on the underlying strength and solid growth potential of emerging market economies.. This will eventually lead to further growth of the Korean equity market. We also maintain our bullish view on the Korean equity market from a long term perspective due to our strong confidence in the increased competitiveness of Korean companies.”

About Mirae Asset Global Investments (UK)

Mirae Asset Global Investments (UK) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mirae Asset Financial Group, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Since 1997, Mirae Asset Global Investments has become one of Asia's largest independent asset managers and the world’s largest active investor in Emerging Market equities. Globally, the firm recorded in excess of USD53 billion of assets under management as of December 2010.

Headquartered in Korea, the Mirae Asset Global Investments Group has a presence in Seoul, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Vietnam, Shanghai, London, New York and Sao Paulo. The Mirae Asset team includes 170 investment professionals (as of Oct 2010) dedicated to asset management in Asia and other emerging markets. Corporate website: www.miraeasset.co.uk

- FG