Analysts yesterday lauded US-based Prudential's decision to acquire 81 percent of Masterlink Securities Investment Trust as it unveiled a new name -- Prumerica Financial -- for its new Taiwan subsidiary yesterday.
"Foreign investment in local mutual fund operations will speed the technology transfer from more experienced fund managers to their colleagues in Taiwan," said Bruce Richardson regional head of financial institution research at Indosuez WI Carr.
Masterlink Investment Trust, which had US$1.5 billion under management as of September, will capitalize on the potential growth in one of Asia's largest asset management industries.
Taiwan's market potential aside, the impending entry into the WTO is luring international firms into Taiwan. "They are getting ready for the WTO entry," said Grace Fang (方鳳山), vice president of China Development Bank (CDC).
Prudential's latest move in the asset management industry will add strength to its two existing businesses in Taiwan: life insurance and securities brokerage, Prudential said. "Being here [in the asset management industry] means we now operate three of our core businesses in Taiwan,"said Stephen Pelletier, president of Prudential's International Capital Group.
Masterlink's "strong management, well-established client base, a high degree of participation with a regular savings plan, very strong distribution and well-established reputation in the banking circles finally a good track record," has lured the Prudential to the company, he said.
Analysts agree that Masterlink Securities has remained one of the more professional domestic fund management companies. "They have been quite professional very early on," says Richardson of WI Carr, in Taipei.
Analysts expect the growth to come from two main directions. First, local citizens will increasingly divert their deposits to invest in mutual funds. Second, many investors in the future may invest more in the mutual funds instead of directly playing the stock market.
"As the financial markets become more complex and more globalized, investors will increasingly be looking forwards to professional advice and top quality service," he said.
Earlier last month, Prudential Plc announced it had bought a major chunk of Core Pacific Investment Trust Co.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last