Domestic mutual funds last year grew 12.95 percent to a record NT$4.52 trillion (US$158.76 billion) as currency, equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) gained popularity among local investors, state-run First Securities Investment Trust Co (FSITC, 第一金投信) said yesterday.
The increase of NT$518.6 billion is the third-largest in history, FSITC said, attributing the rapid growth to major global central banks printing money to boost their economies and ease the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Low interest rates also helped drive money to risky assets, as investors are seeking better returns and time deposits no longer serve that purpose in many parts of the world, it said.
Photo: CNA
Domestic currency funds grew NT$227.3 billion from the end of 2019, followed by increases of NT$134.2 billion and NT$80.8 billion in domestic ETF and equity funds respectively, FSITC said.
Meanwhile, international bond funds, multiple asset funds and equity funds grew by NT$20 billion to NT$50 billion, it said.
Assorted international funds took a hit with index-tracked bond funds shrinking by NT$81.1 billion and ETF equity funds declining by NT$20 billion, it said.
FSITC said that it is expecting similar capital movements this year, as COVID-19 infections are spiking in the US, Europe and other countries, and their central banks would maintain loose monetary policies over the next few years.
The US Federal Reserve, for example, has said that the chance of interest rate hikes is slim through 2023, FSITC said.
Against this backdrop, global capital would continue flowing to risky assets, mainly stocks, to pursue higher yields, it said, explaining why global bourses have rallied to record highs.
FSITC said that investors should take advantage of the trend and favor stocks over bonds, especially shares that benefit from a remote economy, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, self-driving vehicles and other innovative technologies.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the