Taiwan aiming to become key Asian asset management hub: President

Taipei, Sept. 4 (CNA) Taiwan will intensify its initiative to become an Asian asset management center as it seeks to turn its industrial strength into financial clout and enhance the country's competitiveness, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Friday.

Speaking at a financial development forum in Taipei, Lai said the government would continue adjusting and easing financial regulations to give financial institutions greater room to develop the asset management business, but he did not provide any details.

The goal, Lai said, is to internationalize Taiwan's financial markets and establish the country as an important platform connecting industries with global capital.

"Taiwan has the industrial strength, and now we need to turn that strength into financial power and national competitiveness," Lai said.

Taiwan's financial sector posted record or near-record profits in 2024 and 2025, with the combined profits of the banking, securities and insurance industries exceeding NT$1 trillion (US$31.5 billion) for the first time in 2024, Lai said.

The country's economy is expected to grow 11.05 percent this year, while profits in the three major financial sectors are projected to surpass those of the previous two years, he said.

Lai said the government's asset management initiative had already produced results, with the financial sector's assets under management (AUM) reaching NT$46 trillion as of June, about NT$14 trillion higher than before the plan was launched in 2024.

The president did not mention a specific government measure that led to AUM growth, however. In fact, that growth could be easily explained by soaring share prices as investors chase the AI wave.

The benchmark index of Taiwan's stock market, the Taiex, skyrocketed 59.2 percent in the first six months of 2026, spearheaded by tech stocks with promising positions in the AI sector. That came after more than 20 percent jumps in 2024 and 2025.

Shares of TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaking company that accounts for over 40 percent of the Taiwan market's value, had risen 306 percent as of the end of June from the beginning of 2024, backed by the AI boom.

Looking ahead, Lai said the next phase of the initiative will focus on deepening asset management, strengthening capital markets and expanding cross-border financial services.

Lai also highlighted the Taiwan Innovation Board, a platform clustering innovative listings, saying its total trading value reached NT$125.1 billion in the first six months of this year, up 338 percent from a year earlier.

He said Taiwan should build the board into an Asian fundraising platform for startups and attract more international companies to list in Taiwan, with the aim of making it an "Asian Nasdaq."

The president said the government would also draw on the experience of a pilot asset management zone in Kaohsiung to establish regulations covering cross-border finance, family offices and innovative financial products, with successful measures eventually expanded nationwide.

The Financial Supervisory Commission is drafting a special law on financial markets and asset management development to provide a stable and predictable legal framework, he said.