Taiwan plans to merge its four state-backed asset managers into a local fund giant with about US$12 billion of assets, as the government seeks consolidation in the country’s financial industry to boost its competitiveness.
“We will move toward the goal of merging the four asset managers into one,” Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) said in response to lawmakers’ questions at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday.
The firms involved include First Securities Investment Trust Co (第一金投信), Mega International Investment Trust Co (兆豐投信), Taiwan Cooperative Securities Investment Trust Co (合作金庫投信) and Hua Nan Investment Trust Co (華南永昌投信), Chuang said, adding that the deal would be led by First Securities, the largest of the four.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The merger would create a money manager with about NT$375.8 billion (US$12 billion) in combined assets, according to data as of the end of last year from Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association.
Taiwanese regulators are seeking to beef up the financial industry and diversify the economy away from tech, with consolidation of financial institutions seen as a way to achieve that goal.
Officials have also pledged to turn the country into a wealth hub by expanding the local asset management sector, establishing a trial asset management zone in Kaohsiung and launching the Asian asset management center promotion office.
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