Asset managers in South Korea saw their earnings shrink almost 30 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 2010 as mutual fund investors increased fund redemption amid market volatility, the financial watchdog said Thursday.

The combined net profit of 82 asset managers operating in the country came to 219 billion won ($192 million) in the April-December period, compared with 310 billion won a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

The earnings slump came as rising fund redemption pushed down asset managers’ operating income by 4.1 percent on-year over the cited period, the watchdog said.

The companies’ operating costs, meanwhile, rose 1.2 percent on-year due to increased costs, further eating into net profits, it said.

As of the end of December, total assets under management by the tallied firms came to 272.2 trillion won, down 7.6 won, or 2.7 percent from three months earlier, the report said.

Mirae Asset Investment Management Co. posted the highest net profit of 48.5 billion won among the tallied firms.

Among the asset managers tallied, 32 players reported net losses during the cited period, the regulator said. The asset managers close their books on March 31. 

(Yonhap News)