Bloomberg
Taiwan must scale up its largest asset managers if it hopes to compete as a regional financial hub against international rivals, according to the top financial regulator.The island’s US$630 billion asset management industry needs to harness Taiwan’s dominance in the global technology sector and leverage the deep capital pools of domestic financial conglomerates to rapidly build scale, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Peng Jin-lung (彭金隆) said in an interview on Thursday last week.“If Taiwan does not develop multiple asset management firms with sufficient scale, it will be difficult to compete internationally,” Peng said. “That limits our ability to promote Taiwan’s investment opportunities around the world.”
Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Peng Jin-lung poses for a photograph at the commission's headquarters in New Taipei City's Banciao District on May 16.
The push is as much geopolitical as it is economic. Taipei has pledged to strengthen its financial sector to mirror its prowess in advanced semiconductor manufacturing to build greater economic resilience amid escalating pressure from Beijing.A pillar of that strategy is expanding fund management. While reaching NT$1 trillion (US$32 billion) in assets under management was once considered a landmark achievement for local firms, that figure pales in comparison to rivals in hubs like Hong Kong, where the asset management industry oversees more than US$3.3 trillion.
