On January 9, 2025, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) held its New Year press conference, where Chairman Sherman Lin provided the media with an overview of key business milestones in 2024 and the outlook for 2025. Below is a summary of the major highlights to help readers grasp the latest developments in the TWSE’s business strategy.
2024 Review: Three Key Breakthroughs in Taiwan’s Capital Market
1. Record-High Stock Performance and Trading Value, Advancing Towards Global Leadership
Driven by the AI industry, Taiwan’s listed companies experienced revenue and profit growth in 2024, propelling the stock market to new highs. The TAIEX index surpassed the 20,000-point mark for the first time, achieving an annual increase of 28.47%, ranking second only to Nasdaq among major stock markets. Market liquidity also surged, with total trading value reaching nearly NT$100 trillion—more than 3.3 times its level a decade ago. The daily average trading value exceeded NT$400 billion, setting a historic record.
Taiwan's stock market valuation also saw a significant boost, with the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio rising from around 15 times to over 20 times and the price-to-book (P/B) ratio increasing from 1.74 times to 2.49 times compared to a decade ago. By the end of 2024, the market capitalization of listed stocks had reached NT$74 trillion.
Compared to major global exchanges, Taiwan’s stock market has demonstrated outstanding growth in both market capitalization and trading value over the past five years, climbing in international rankings. By the end of 2024, Taiwan’s market capitalization rose from 17th to 12th place globally, while its trading value ranking jumped from 19th to 10th place. Additionally, the investor base continued to expand, with the number of investors holding trading accounts reaching 13.22 million, reflecting the success of inclusive finance initiatives such as regular savings plans and fractional share trading.
2. Enhancing Competitive Advantages Through Diversification
The TWSE actively fosters a favorable fundraising environment, encouraging companies to enter the capital market. In 2024, 36 new companies were listed, marking a 12-year high, with IPO fundraising reaching NT$42.75 billion. Among the 31 IPO applications, over 40% came from emerging industries, reflecting a diversified industrial landscape.
In terms of product diversification, 21 new ETFs were launched in 2024, a significant increase from 13 in 2023. By the end of 2024, the total number of listed ETFs reached 174, with assets under management (AUM) surging to NT$3.41 trillion—an 83% increase from the previous year and a 20.2-fold growth over the past decade.
To attract international capital, the TWSE expanded its global outreach in 2024, visiting Europe and the Middle East and strengthening collaborations with local exchanges. Additionally, the TWSE partnered with the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to co-host investment forums in Taiwan and Singapore. Foreign investors have demonstrated long-term confidence in Taiwan’s market, increasing their holdings to 45.41% of total market capitalization by the end of 2024, with a market value exceeding NT$33 trillion—more than tripling from NT$10 trillion in 2014.
3. Leveraging the TWSE Group’s Resources to Drive Sustainability
In alignment with government policies, the TWSE has gradually promoted greater sustainability disclosures among listed companies. The launch of the ESG Digital Platform (ESGgenplus) and ESG InfoHub 2.0 has enhanced transparency on corporate sustainability performance, supporting sustainable investment trends. To foster closer ties between institutional investors and listed companies, the TWSE’s subsidiary, Taiwan Index Plus (TIP), introduced the Investor Relations Engagement Service Platform (IR Engage), which began trial operations in November 2024.
The carbon credit market also advanced steadily, with Taiwan Carbon Solution Exchange (TCX) introducing diversified international carbon credit projects and launching its domestic carbon credit trading platform in September 2024 to facilitate corporate carbon neutrality. Additionally, international forums, carbon management training programs, and certification courses were conducted to cultivate local ESG talent.
2025 Outlook: Four Core Goals to Elevate Taiwan’s Capital Market
Goal 1: Establishing the Preferred Fundraising Platform for Enterprises
To assist companies in efficiently accessing fundraising information, the TWSE will leverage the capital market service team and integrate services from its subsidiaries, including the TIP and the TCX, to provide comprehensive advisory support. Efforts will focus on expanding industry clusters by identifying high-quality enterprises, particularly in emerging industries, while promoting international listings under three key directions:
- Targeting ASEAN markets
- Securing overseas Taiwanese business listings
- Attracting U.S.-based companies
With the Taiwan Innovation Board (TIB) 2.0 initiative, the TWSE will reinforce “Team Taiwan for Innovation” by leveraging both Taiwan’s technological strengths and capital market advantages to drive innovation. The enhanced TIB 2.0 framework will introduce external experts for stricter innovation assessments, increase promotional efforts, and offer financial incentives to attract investors.
Goal 2: Leading the Transition to Net-Zero Sustainability
As corporate ESG disclosures improve, the TWSE will enhance its ESGgenplus with new tools to support the preparation of sustainability reports and integrate evaluation frameworks and benchmarks. A dedicated ESG evaluation database will also be launched to provide insights into market-wide ESG performance.
Additionally, the TCX will continue to introduce diverse international carbon credit projects and expand domestic carbon reduction initiatives to incentivize companies to participate in carbon neutrality programs.
Goal 3: Expanding Product Internationalization
To drive product diversification and attract global capital, the TWSE will advance the cross-listing of ETFs between Taiwan and Japan in 2025 while exploring similar collaborations with other markets. The introduction of actively managed ETFs and multi-asset ETFs is also planned for this year.
For increased international visibility, the TWSE will conduct investment promotion events at Computex and other major conferences, collaborate with foreign securities firms, and organize the Taiwan Week series to showcase Taiwan’s capital market strengths. The TWSE will also participate in the IOSCO Qatar annual meeting and host the AOSEF annual meeting to strengthen ties with exchanges in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.
Goal 4: Technology-Driven Innovation for Inclusive Finance
To combat evolving fraud tactics, the TWSE will strengthen its anti-fraud defense network, expand awareness campaigns through digital platforms, and introduce a new anti-fraud reporting system with enhanced user interfaces and analytical tools. AI-powered surveillance will be used to detect and block fraudulent advertisements more efficiently.
In financial literacy efforts, the TWSE will focus on the TIB 2.0 reforms, new ETF products, and investor education, targeting different demographic groups through a mix of online and offline events.
On the regulatory front, the TWSE will expand Supervisory Technology (SupTech) adoption, promoting paperless automation, big data analytics, and AI-driven compliance monitoring to enhance efficiency and precision in market oversight.
Forging Taiwan’s Path to an Asian Asset Management Hub
Building on the strong foundation laid in 2024, the TWSE will navigate geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties while advancing capital market diversification and sustainability. These efforts aim to position Taiwan as a premier asset management center in Asia.