Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) Nomura Asset Management Co. on Thursday launched the first cross-border exchange-traded fund (ETF) listings in Taiwan and Japan, in line with efforts by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to turn Taiwan into a regional asset management hub.
At a ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) Chairman Sherman Lin (林修銘) said the move marked a milestone in international cooperation for the country's capital market. In Japan, TWSE President Li Ai-ling (李愛玲) attended the ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
ETFs are investment funds that trade like shares and can track anything from a single stock to a broad market index.
In Taipei, Nomura Asset Management Taiwan listed the NEXT FUNDS-Nomura TOPIX Feeder ETF (009812), which tracks Japan's largest ETF, the NEXT Funds TOPIX (1306.JP).
In Tokyo, Nomura listed the NEXT FUNDS TIP FactSet Taiwan Innovative Technology 50 Index ETF (412A), which follows Taiwan's Nomura Taiwan Innovative Technology 50 ETF (00935).
FSC Vice Chairman Chen Yen-liang (陳彥良) said Taiwan's recognition of Japan as an overseas ETF registration and management site helped pave the way for Thursday's launches.
Tokyo Stock Exchange President Iwanaga Moriyuki said the stock markets in Japan and Taiwan have performed well in 2025 and that he hoped cross-listings would eventually extend to active ETFs, not just index-tracking products.
Taiwan listed its first ETF in 2003 and is now the third-largest ETF market in the Asia-Pacific region, with 294 ETFs worth NT$6.77 trillion (US$226 billion), as of the end of August, the TWSE said.
