This year, Taiwan’s capital market has shown tremendous strength with resilient fundamentals, high dividend returns, and a complete upstream and downstream supply chain in information and communication technology (ICT) industry. The recent AI frenzy, together with the expected end to US rate hikes, has attracted the foreign capital flow to return to Taiwan’s stock market. So far in 2023, the proportion of foreign capital in Taiwan stocks exceeded 40%, which has driven up stock prices in Taiwan. According to data from TWSE, as of June 30, Taiwan’s stock market was up 19.65% for the year, ranking fourth among the world’s major stock markets, and second only to the Japanese stock market 27% among Asian stock markets.
The total revenue of listed companies in Taiwan hit a record high of USD 1.31 trillion in 2022, with an annual growth rate of more than 5%. Judging from the estimated distributable cash for dividends, the estimated dividend yield is close to 5%, ranking among the best in the world. Among the constituent stocks of the Taiwan stock index, listed companies in technology, semiconductors and electronic components have a combined weight of more than 50%.
Sherman Lin, Chairman and CEO of the TWSE, said, “Taiwan’s stock market has sound fundamentals. This year, it has continued to attract foreign capital and recorded an outstanding rise in stock prices. We hope the foreign capital will keep coming to Taiwan and the launch of the ESG InfoHub and Investment InfoHub will help investors better understand the advantages of listed companies in Taiwan, so as to continuously attract foreign investment.”
Optimization of information disclosure with a one-stop service platform
The Investment InfoHub website aims to provide investors with one-stop integrated information services for making investment decisions. It integrates important information from the official website of the TWSE, Market Observation Post System and Market Information System websites. The key information of the markets and listed companies are presented with graphics and visualized analytic reports, providing investors with infographics to facilitate their use in comparison and analysis. In addition, all data reports provide outputs in various file formats such as pictures and tables, allowing investors to further process and utilize the data. By establishing the Investment InfoHub website, TWSE hopes to provide investors, especially foreign institutional investors, with a one-stop access to crucial reference materials needed for making investment decisions.
The ESG InfoHub website integrates ESG information, ESG products and other data from listed companies to make ESG-related information more accessible and useful to investors as an investment reference. Investors may use the platform to look for E (Environment), S (Social), and G (Governance) information of specific companies, and make comparison between companies and across industries to identify the opportunities in the ESG market. The launch of ESG InfoHub, which aims to facilitate ESG investment and drives sustainable finance, represents a critical milestone in the TWSE’s commitment to promoting the ESG ecosystem, making ESG a competitive advantage for Taiwanese companies in the global market and enhancing the international competitiveness of the capital market as a whole.
Adopting the approach of “Taiwan going out, the world coming in”, led by Chairman Sherman Lin, TWSE will arrange a delegation visit to New York, the global financial hub, for overseas roadshows and physical meetings with important institutional investors in September, in addition to their visits to Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Vietnam during the first half of the year. The upcoming visit to New York aims to bolster Taiwan’s positioning in the international capital market, build long-term relationships and collaboration with major international financial institutions, and attract more foreign investment flow.
Launching new economy industry index to cover four new industry categories
Along with ESG InfoHub and Investment InfoHub, TWSE has also launched several new key measures in July, including adjustments to the industry classification of listed companies by adding four new categories, namely “Digital and Cloud Services” (four companies), “Sports and Leisure” (15 companies), “Green Energy and Environmental Services” (12 companies), and “Household” (11 companies), which allows distinctive listed companies to benefit from a clustering effect and draw the attention of investors. Taking the world’s largest sports footwear OEM Pou Chen Group and the world’s leading bicycle manufacturer Giant Group as examples, the two conglomerates, which were originally listed under the “Other” category, will be included in the “Sports and Leisure” industry category starting from July.
In tandem with the above measures, TWSE will also launch the “Taiwan New Economy Industry Index”, which covers the listed companies of the four said new industries, as well as the “Taiwan Innovation Board Index” to highlight Taiwan’s new economy companies.
In addition, the TWSE is set to launch a new Corporate Identification System (CIS) in July since the last update 15 years ago in 2008, the new CIS design aims to convey the importance of innovation highly valued by the TWSE.
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About TWSE
The Taiwan Stock Exchange (the “TWSE”) started operations on February 9, 1962. The TWSE is responsible for operating and advancing Taiwan securities market. TWSE primary business operations include listing, trading, settlement and surveillance. These comprise listing promotion and review, post-listing supervision and corporate governance, maintaining market trading and order, securities firms’ services, investor protection, clearing and settlement operations, safeguarding against market defaults and the monitoring of illegal transactions. The Exchange provides comprehensive services to the stock market.
