Taiwan ETF Holdings (Early 2024)
A look at all 122 stock holdings of the iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (NYSEARCA: EWT) + Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF (NYSEARCA: FLTW) + their performance along with that of The Taiwan Fund, Inc (NYSE: TWN).
Interactive Brokers now gives access to the Taiwan stock market and this post takes a closer look at all 122 stock holdings for the following two Taiwan ETFs (as there is some overlap with the holdings of the two):
iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (NYSEARCA: EWT) - Inception: June 20, 2000
Expense Ratio: 0.59%
P/E: 14.30 / Dividend Yield: 3.51% (Yahoo! Finance)
Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF (NYSEARCA: FLTW) - Inception: November 2, 2017
Net Expense Ratio: 0.19%
P/E: 15.70 / Dividend Yield: 2.75% (Yahoo! Finance)
And for reference, there is one Taiwan closed-end fund:
The Taiwan Fund, Inc (NYSE: TWN) - Inception: December 23, 1986
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 0.82
Trailing P/E: 2.46 (no forward P/E) / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: N/A (Yahoo! Finance)
We cover The Taiwan Fund in our Sunday posts and it does feel like they do a fair amount of trading every month or quarter. Otherwise, their monthly fact sheets do provide good commentary about the Taiwan market and the latest tech trends.
Here is a look at the more recent performance of both Taiwan ETFs and the closed-end Taiwan fund covering the COVID period (the charts are linked back to Yahoo! Finance):
And the long term performance of all three funds:
As you can see from the above charts, The Taiwan Fund has tended to outperform the two Taiwan ETFs.
However, note that both ETFs and the Taiwan closed-end fund are heavily overweighed in TSMC:
IF you already own TSMC, it may not make sense to invest in the Taiwan ETFs or closed-end fund given these weightings.
The remainder of their portfolios are also heavily geared toward tech stocks and I should point out that some Taiwan tech stocks have gone parabolic as potential AI plays:
Aside from being tech orientated, some specific things you will notice when skimming through the holdings covered later in this post include how most of these Taiwanese stocks pay decent dividends - including the tech ones. Given how the New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) does not fluctuate much against the USD, even a small dividend can help to offset any negative currency fluctuations or additional trading costs:
In addition and for what the price/book (most recent quarter) ratio from Yahoo! Finance is worth, very few of these stocks have ratios below 1.00 (unlike with Korean stocks). Nevertheless, their price/book ratios along with their forward and/or trailing P/Es don’t look overly stretched - unlike with certain American tech stocks…
I did do a post about my recent stopover in Taiwan:
Taiwan Stopover + Non-Tech Taiwan Stock Updates
A short Taiwan stopover; Bafang Yunji International Co., Ltd. (TPE: 2753) vs. Gourmet Master Co., Ltd. (TPE: 2723); China Airlines (TPE: 2610) vs. Eva Airways Corp (TPE: 2618) updates; etc.
Note that neither ETF owns the following two Taiwanese consumer stocks that you will encounter everywhere on a trip to Taiwan:
Gourmet Master (TPE: 2723): Taiwan's Rapidly Expanding Version of Starbucks
Gourmet Master Co., Ltd. (TPE: 2723) is an investment holding company operating around 1,000 bakery cafes under the 85°C name in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Australia, United States, and Cambodia.
Bafang Yunji International (TPE: 2753): Turning Things Around and Expanding in HK Plus the USA
Taiwan based Bafang Yunji International Co., Ltd. (TPE: 2753) operates dumpling-potsticker plus pork rib restaurant chains with branches in China (closing), Hong Kong & the USA where they are starting to expand
I have also done write-ups about these two potentially interesting Taiwanese tech stocks:
Taiwan based E Ink Holdings (TPE: 8069) is an electronic paper (ePaper) & electronic ink stock. Amazon Kindle, wearables, etc. plus retailers like Wal-Mart (for digital labels) use the technology.
Yageo Corp (TPE: 2327 / OTCMKTS: YAGOY): Powering AI with Passive Components
Taiwan-based electronic component manufacturer Yageo Corp (TPE: 2327 / OTCMKTS: YAGOY) is one of the largest passive component makers in the world helping to power AI.
For further research about the Taiwan market, the Market Observation Post System (MOPS) has company profiles and financial information in English, but the site is slightly clunky to use as it seems like you need to re-search for the company under each tab and can’t save a URL for a specific search result…:
To make your life easier, the rest of this post includes:
The broad industry classification for the stock.
Which ETF or ETFs own the stock as a holding.
A quick description of the stock pick with links to the IR page and stock quote(s) on Yahoo! Finance.
A link to any Wikipedia page (for what it might be worth…)
A price/book (most recent quarter) ratio plus forward or trailing P/E and dividend yields linked back to the Yahoo! Finance statistics page.
The latest long term technical chart linked back to Yahoo! Finance.
Finally, I should note that it was probably a couple of months ago when I had copied the holdings of both ETFs into a spreadsheet, but I doubt there have been many changes with those holdings since then…
And as always, this post is provided for informational purposes only (and to make your life easier by providing you with relevant information, links, and charts). It does not constitute investment advice and/or a recommendation…
Accton Technology
Information Technology
EWT & FLTW
Accton Technology (TPE: 2345) is a leader in the design of open hardware platforms for data center, carrier access, campus, SD-WAN networks, and IoT.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 8.65
Forward P/E: 19.23 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 1.60% (Yahoo! Finance)
Acer Inc
Information Technology
EWT & FLTW
Acer Inc (TPE: 2353 / FRA: AC5G / OTCMKTS: ACEYY) is a multinational hardware and electronics corporation specializing in advanced electronics technology, headquartered in Xizhi, New Taipei City. Its products include desktop PCs, laptop PCs, tablets, servers, storage devices, virtual reality devices, displays, smartphones and peripherals, as well as gaming PCs and accessories under its Predator brand.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 1.96
Forward P/E: 17.39 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 3.33% (Yahoo! Finance)
Advanced Energy Solution Holding Co Ltd
Industrials
FLTW
Advanced Energy Solution Holding Co Ltd (TPE: 6781) is registered in the British Cayman Islands and was established on January 9, 2020. The main products are lithium battery modules, and its main production sites are Changshu, China, and Hsinchu, Taiwan. AES has been committed to the R&D of professional lithium battery module technology for many years. As the demand for green energy around the world continues to increase, power and energy storage lithium batteries will play a more important role. AES expects to become an important member of the green energy supply chain and contribute to a better Earth.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 4.12
Trailing P/E: 31.26 (no foward P/E) / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 2.86% (Yahoo! Finance)
Advantech Co., Ltd.
Information Technology
EWT & FLTW
Advantech Co., Ltd. (TPE: 2395) is a global leader in industrial IoT offering comprehensive system integration, hardware, software, customer-centric design services, embedded systems, automation products, and global logistics support. They cooperate closely with their partners to help provide complete solutions for a wide array of applications across a diverse range of industries. Their mission is to enable an intelligent planet with Automation and Embedded Computing products and solutions that empower the development of smarter working and living.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 7.12
Forward P/E: 33.56 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 2.81% (Yahoo! Finance)
Airtac International Group
Industrials
EWT & FLTW
Airtac International Group (TPE: 1590) established and headquartered in Taiwan since 1988, is a well-known supplier/manufacture of transmission equipment in the world market. AirTAC is specialized in producing preparation units, control components, actuators, accessories, and linear guides which are widely used in the automotive, machinery manufacturing, metallurgy, electronics, rail transit, environmental protection, lighting and textile, ceramics, medical equipment, food, packaging, and automated industrial fields.
Price/Book (Most Recent Quarter): 5.67
Forward P/E: 29.07 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 1.14% (Yahoo! Finance)
