Nearly 60 percent of Taiwanese failed to achieve their investment objectives in the past five years, worse than their peers in Asia and globally, international asset management firm Schroders PLC said yesterday.
While Taiwanese used to be active investors in times of market volatility, they have turned conservative since the end of last year, unsettled by the US-China trade dispute, the survey found.
In the past five years, 59 percent of Taiwanese failed to realize their investment goals, more than 56 percent in the region and 51 percent globally, according to the survey that polled 25,743 investors from 32 countries in April and May.
The UK-based firm limits its annual survey to people with investments of at least NT$350,000.
To explain the disappointing returns, 20 percent blamed a weaker-than-expected showing on their investment tools, 18 percent cited unrealistic return expectations and 17 percent said that more time was needed.
Taiwanese seek a 10.7 percent return on average, on par with their global counterparts, but behind the 11.5 percent target among Asian investors, the survey showed.
Still, return expectations are much higher than those provided by the MSCI Global Index, which has generated 6.25 percent returns annually for the past five years on average, it said.
Schroder Investment Management Taiwan said that 31 percent of local investors had previously opted to raise stock positions, the second-highest in terms of risk tolerance.
However, the US-China trade dispute has changed their behavior, as 36 percent plan to stay on the sidelines until uncertainty clears, the local fund house said.
Only 17 percent said that they would increase holdings, lower than global investors at 30 percent and Asian peers at 27 percent, it said.
“That is probably because Taiwan has heavy exposure to both the US and China, the world’s two largest end markets for consumer electronic products,” Schroders Taiwan said.
The nation is home to the world’s top contract makers of electronics used in smartphones and laptops, rendering corporate earnings vulnerable to high tariffs.
Market volatility is inevitable and patience is the best way to emerge profitable, Schroders chief investment solution officer Charles Prideaux said.
“Frequent changes of investment tools to pursue yields have time and again proved disappointing,” Prideaux said.
Taiwanese spent an average of 2.6 years on their investments, similar to global peers and Asian counterparts at 2.6 years and 2.5 years respectively, the survey found.
However, 40 percent of local investors pulled out in less than a year, it added.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective