As 2026 commences, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) convened its annual press conference to reflect on a landmark 2025 and chart the course for the year ahead. Chairman Sherman Lin highlighted that despite headwinds from global geopolitical tensions and trade protectionism, Taiwan’s capital market delivered a resilient performance, with notable achievements that reaffirmed its strategic positioning as “anchored in Asia, globally connected.”
The TAIEX scaled a historic peak, closing 2025 at 28,963.6 points, bolstered by a record daily average turnover of NT$416 billion. Total market capitalization of listed companies surpassed NT$94 trillion at the end of 2025 and with early 2026 figures already nearing NT$100 trillion, Taiwan ranked 7th globally by market capitalization. These achievements underscore strong capital inflows, high liquidity, and the global competitiveness of Taiwan’s listed companies.
Investors with trading accounts reached 13.77 million, covering nearly 60% of Taiwan’s population. The TWSE has emerged as a cornerstone for inclusive prosperity and shared growth through the capital market.
Looking ahead to a volatile global financial landscape, Chairman Lin reiterated that Taiwan’s capital market and listed companies will remain resilient and spearhead the next phase of growth.
Four Achievements in 2025
Following the Chairman’s remarks, Yamei Chang, senior vice president of the Corporate Planning & Strategy Department, presented the milestones of 2025. Since the government launched Asian Asset Management Center (AAMC) initiative, the TWSE has dedicated itself to fortifying Taiwan’s capital market across all dimensions, yielding the following key achievements in 2025:
Achievement 1. Empowering Dedicated Task Forces and Global Outreach
To advance Taiwan’s goal of building the AAMC, the TWSE has actively expanded its global footprint and adopted new promotional strategies to enhance the international visibility of both the AAMC initiative and Taiwan’s capital market:
- The TWSE established the AAMC Promotion Office as a one-stop consultation window and launched the dedicated website. To strengthen public–private coordination an Asset Management Promotion Task Force was formed in partnership with the leading accounting firms.
- Under the guidance of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), the inaugural “Taiwan Weeks” attracted nearly 28,000 participants through thematic forums and brought together 9 global exchanges and over a thousand institutional investors.
- In collaboration with COMPUTEX, the TWSE further expanded outreach as well, engaging 25 listed companies and 277 institutional investors, drawing a total attendance exceeding one hundred thousand.
With growing international visibility, foreign investor participation continued to expand, with foreign investors holding 47.4% of the market capitalization and accounting for 35.3% of total trading value—highlighting the effectiveness of AAMC policy initiatives.
Achievement 2. Building the “Nasdaq of Asia” Through the Asia Innovation Capital (AIC)
Reflecting the TWSE’s efforts to cultivate a more attractive fundraising environment, IPO applications reached 45 in 2025, the highest since 2008, including 15 Taiwan Innovation Board (tib) applications. New listings reached 34, with IPO proceeds hitting a record high of NT$85 billion.
The AIC was launched, targeting 14 pioneering industries. The initiative eased listing regulations for foreign companies and the tib, fostered strategic partnerships with CVCs, VCs, and industry associations, and provided comprehensive support, aiming to attract high-growth, innovation-driven enterprises to list on Taiwan’s capital market.
As the innovation ecosystem accelerated, trading activity surged. The tib companies reached an average price-to-book ratio of 4.5, outperforming the overall market and highlighting innovation’s role as a new engine for capital market growth.
Achievement 3. Expanding Product Diversity and Enhancing Market Mechanisms
Taiwan’s ETF market continued to thrive, with assets under management (AUM) growing 36% YoY to NT$4.63 trillion. Key developments include:
- New types of ETFs: launch of 15 actively managed ETFs and 2 passive multi-asset ETFs, with combined AUM nearing NT$170 billion.
- Success of the first-ever Taiwan–Japan cross-border ETF collaboration: Japan-linked ETF growing nearly 90% and two Taiwan-linked ETFs achieving multi-fold increases.
The TWSE also implemented market mechanism reforms: shortening the interval between IPO pricing and listing, expanding day trading eligibility for the tib stocks, and shortening the suspension period associated with ETF split operations.
Achievement 4. Advancing Sustainability and Digital Transformation to Strengthen Market Resilience
- Sustainability: assisted the adoption of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, launched the first “Taiwan Nature-Based Carbon Sink Co-Prosperity Initiative,” and completed its own greenhouse gas inventory, third-party assurance, and carbon neutrality verification.
- Digital Transformation: deployed AI for news sentiment analysis and report reviews, introduced e-filing systems to streamline processes, and implemented the zero trust architecture to reinforce system stability and cybersecurity.
- Financial Inclusion & Anti-Fraud: promoted investor education across channels, leveraged AI to sharpen fraud detection and strengthened securities firm anti-fraud evaluation.
Five Strategies for 2026
Looking ahead to 2026, the TWSE President Edith Lee affirmed the Exchange’s commitment to positioning Taiwan as a leading asset management hub in Asia. The TWSE will focus on the following key priorities: upgrading the tib to attract high-quality companies with “Taiwan elements”, promoting corporate value enhancement, and expanding the ETF market—together fueling sustained capital market growth. To this end, the TWSE unveiled five strategies for 2026:
Strategy 1. Enhancing Corporate Value and Incubating Unicorns
“Power Up Plan 2.0” guides companies toward future-oriented growth strategies and strategic planning to enhance mid- to long-term corporate value. To improve investor communication, the TWSE is refining value enhancement guidelines based on corporate disclosure practices. Leveraging group resources, the TWSE will also provide upgraded IR services and various exposure channels. For quality stocks with low liquidity, the TWSE will continue collaborating with dealers to improve relevant measures and market making mechanisms.
The TWSE is positioning the tib as a Unicorn Incubator by partnering with large-cap companies, financial holdings, and global VCs to accelerate the listing of startups with strong growth potential in Taiwan. The TWSE will also deepen collaboration with the National Development Council’s Startup Island Taiwan, AAMA and other partners. The strategic outreach will focus on Southeast Asia, Japan, and Silicon Valley to enhance the global visibility of Taiwan’s capital market.
Strategy 2. Broaden ETF Product Diversity and Cross-Border Collaboration
The TWSE will explore and promote new types of ETFs such as active multi-asset and covered call ETFs, while working with international index providers to diversify index offerings and expand overseas adoption of Taiwan equity index. The TWSE will continue to expand cross-border footprint and pursue diverse collaboration opportunities with global exchanges. Furthermore, the automated ETF creation and redemption platform and dual-currency ETF trading mechanism will be enhanced to boost market efficiency.
Strategy 3. Strengthening Resilience Through Sustainability and Digital Empowerment
- Sustainability: launching ESG Evaluation System and Green Stock Designations, and supporting companies in aligning with international standards; through the Taiwan Carbon Solution Exchange (TCX), assisting the rollout of the trial platform for Taiwanese Emissions Trading System (TW ETS) in coordination with the Ministry of Environment, bringing in high-quality international carbon projects, and promoting nature-based carbon sinks.
- Digital Empowerment: developing a chatbot to offer real-time services and further optimizing trading systems.
- Regulatory Support: exploring regulatory enhancements to enable business expansion by securities firms and to foster a more foreign investor-friendly environment.
Strategy 4. Bridging Policy and Industry to Expand the AAMC Brand Globally
The AAMC Promotion Office will work closely with regulators to serve as a public platform. By strengthening connectivity with global financial centers through resource sharing and reciprocity, it will enhance the effectiveness of policy outreach and reinforce Taiwan’s unique position in the international asset management landscape. The TWSE will also assist the FSC in scaling up “Taiwan Weeks”, leverage global events like COMPUTEX to attract investment and deepen ties with overseas exchanges through participation in the WFE, IOSCO, and other international forums.
Strategy 5. Building a Secure and Inclusive Capital Market
To ensure that financial progress delivers inclusive prosperity while safeguarding investor rights, the TWSE is advancing a multi-pronged approach. The anti-fraud framework will be reinforced through a joint defense mechanism and expanded public awareness efforts. In 2026, the revamped Anti-Fraud Joint Defense Section will be launched, with educational content, databases, and analytics. Integrated anti-fraud campaigns will be sustained to reinforce investor protection.
Additionally, the TWSE will refine the mechanisms of “Giving Back to Society by Financial Institutions” while improving information transparency. The TWSE will also leverage multi-channel communication to strengthen outreach on the tib, tibit and other investor-relevant topics to advance financial inclusion.
Conclusion
This press conference reviewed the TWSE’s achievements over the past year in global engagement, the development of the tib, and product diversification. These milestones marked critical progress in advancing Taiwan’s AAMC initiative while injecting sustained growth momentum. Total market capitalization of listed companies surpassed NT$100 trillion on January 13, 2026, signaling a new era for Taiwan’s capital market.
Entering 2026, the TWSE will amplify these achievements with five strategies. By reinforcing market competitiveness, harnessing innovation, technology and sustainability, and accelerating the internationalization of the AAMC brand, the TWSE will continue to attract global capital and catalyze Taiwan’s evolution into the leading asset management center in Asia.