Goldman Sachs Group Inc. plans to exit the South Korean asset management business amid sluggish global stock markets, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.

The Wall Street firm will probably take steps to protect customers of its Goldman Sachs Asset Management Korea Co. unit, said two of the people, who asked not to be named as the matter is private. They did not specify the timing of an exit.

“Our expectations for the local Korean asset management business have not been met,” Niklas Ekholm, a London-based spokesman for Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said in an e- mailed statement.

Combined operating income at 82 South Korean asset management firms fell 21 percent in the quarter ended June from a year earlier as declining asset values hampered fee income, Financial Supervisory Service data show. (Bloomberg)