Video game, fitness and pet businesses have proven resilient amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as people spend more time at home, while a low global fertility rate and rapidly growing population of senior citizens are expected to lend further support to those businesses, First Securities Investment Trust Co (FSITC, 第一金投信) said yesterday.
Video game participants are expected to reach 2.7 billion this year, accounting for one-third of the global population, allowing the industry to expand rapidly and groom professionals and celebrities, FSITC chief investment officer Jack Tang (唐祖蔭) told a news conference.
It is not surprising that celebrities with huge followings win prodigious compensation for endorsing games and peripheral products, Tang said.
In the US, the video gaming industry’s revenue last year reached US$160 billion, much larger than the music and film industries combined, and is expected to surpass US$200 billion in 2023, FSITC fund manager Kelvin Chen (陳杰) said.
Fitness is another theme that presents great business potential, as obesity has become a major health threat in advanced economies, FSITC fund manager Tommy Chang (常李奕翰) said.
With about 1.6 billion people facing the risk of developing cardiac, diabetic and other health problems, diet, nutrition and weight management would grow into a US$2.2 trillion business in 2025, Chang said, citing the Global Wellness Institute.
As pets increasingly replace children to keep senior citizens company in light of declining fertility, the number of pets could exceed 500 million worldwide this year and approach 670 million in 2024, FSITC portfolio manager Jason Hsu (許書豪) said.
That would suggest a global pet market of US$500 billion to US$1 trillion a year, he said.
FSITC is to issue fitness, gaming and pet funds next month to take advantage of the trends.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
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