Taiwan investors are more bullish in 2021, with net inflows to all funds at over £2bn ($2.75bn) in the first three quarters of this year, compared with about £1.5bn for the whole of 2020, according to Calastone, a London-based global funds network.
Although following Taiwan’s May 2021 Covid-19 outbreak equity funds saw outflows, investors’ confidence has been gradually bouncing back.
Net sales of equity funds in May and June, of £15.8m and £20m respectively, shifted to net purchases of £75m in July and £78m in September.
Overall fund buys have surpassed sells every month since December 2020 and reached a peak of £549m of inflows in March 2021.
Mixed asset funds have seen inflows all year, with significant surges in purchases seen in the first and the third quarter of 2021. Inflows took place against a backdrop of strong economic growth in Taiwan, with an increase in real GDP of 7.43% in the second quarter of 2021. The economy is forecast to grow by 5.46% in the full 2021 calendar year.
However, Taiwanese investors have been more cautious about investing in bond funds, with sales outweighing buys since April 2021. Yet, several fixed income categories, mainly investing in US-dollar-denominated bonds across global and emerging markets, were among the 10 best-selling asset classes during the first six months of the year, according to Morningstar data.
