The Taiwan unit of Singapore’s UOB Asset Management is working to expand investment offerings, particularly exchange-traded funds, to meet demand for products that generate income and act as a hedge against inflation.
The unit, UOB Asset Management (Taiwan), has been operating in Taiwan for over 28 years. It started by offering investment advisory services and, in 2016, secured a licence from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to launch and manage onshore funds.
UOBAM Taiwan has since launched three US bond ETFs and one high dividend Taiwan equity ETF.
“We started from scratch,” William Wang, chief executive officer of UOBAM Taiwan, says in an interview with Asia Asset Management. “We were quite surprised by the approval, as the FSC had not granted the licence to any foreign managers for nearly 15 years.”
The firm sees its local expertise and regional perspective as key strengths that set it apart from other foreign asset managers operating in Taiwan.
“We believe that the firm’s deep understanding of clients’ needs, combined with our capability to help them identify opportunities through suitable solutions, gives us a competitive edge,” Wang says.
He observes that investor preference in Taiwan has changed. Interest in the complicated structured products that were popular among retail investors a few years ago has waned because of high management fees and underperformance.
“Investors now prefer simple-structured, transparent and cost-efficient funds,” he says. “The shift in investor preference has fuelled the already robust ETF market.”
According to Wang, investors are looking for three key features: growth potential, stable income stream, and the ability to beat inflation.
“In response, we are aligning our offerings to meet these demands. Moving forward, the company will use these investor priorities as benchmarks to further diversify and expand its ETF portfolio,” he says.
Figures from the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association show that UOBAM Taiwan had NT$94.7 billion (US$3.1 billion) of assets under management as of July 2025.
