South Korea’s KB Asset Management has opened its third overseas office in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to serve as the hub for regional financial market studies and development of services customized for the Southeast Asian country.

The fund opened KB Asset Management Vietnam Representative Office in Ho Chi Minh on Tuesday. The Vietnam office is the company’s third overseas location after openings in Singapore and Shanghai in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

The Vietnamese office will focus on conducting research of the local financial market as well as developing new products and services tailored to specific needs in the region, according to the asset manager on Wednesday. The office is to be headed by Seo Ho-chang, an executive recruited from outside in May.

“We have opened our own overseas office in Vietnam, instead of seeking a partnership or taking over a local entity to make faster penetration into the Vietnamese financial market,” said Cho Jae-min, chief executive officer of KB Asset Management. The addition of the Vietnam office is expected to help further enhance the company’s global business along with its offices in Singapore and Shanghai, he added.

KB Asset Management has 191.6 billion won ($159.1 million) worth funds that include Vietnamese assets under management, with 150.5 billion won in publicly traded funds. Currently, 50 billion won worth of Vietnam funds are under its direct management and it plans to increase the amount.

Korean financial companies have been aggressively making inroads into the Vietnamese financial market. Currently, there are eight overseas subsidiaries and 11 regional offices of Korean companies in operation in Vietnam.

By Kim Je-lim and Cho Jeehyun

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