TSMC has recently become a highly sought-after target among Taiex investors, with some jokingly arguing that “you can’t be serious about Taiex investment if you haven’t bought shares in TSMC.” According to TDCC’s Big Data analysis, in 2020, the number of TSMC retail investors increased by almost 90k, up from only 10k in 2019, suggesting TSMC has indeed gained substantial popularity.

TDCC’s total market (TWSE and TPEx combined) analysis also finds that China Steel Corp (CSC) has ranked 1st on the chart of investors’ holdings over the past decade. At least one out of every ten Taiex retail investors holds shares in CSC (the exact figure in 2020 was 11%, down from 13% in 2011). While shares in CSC are held by the most investors, the number of retail investors holding more than 1,000 shares in the company only edged up moderately from 720k in 2011 to 730k in 2020.

Meanwhile, although TSMC saw its position on the chart fall from 8th in 2011 to 10th in 2020, the number of investors holding more than 1,000 shares surged from 230k in 2011 to almost 310k in 2020, up by approximately 35%, markedly outpacing the growth of CSC. This means TSMC is gaining traction among retail investors, and given continuous positive news, with share price hitting new highs, we won’t be surprised if more investors decide to hold shares in TSMC, likely pushing up its holding ranking in 2021.

It is worth noting that in both 2011 and 2020, the second and third places on the chart had been dominated in turns by UMC and Hon Hai, chaired by Robert Tsao and Terry Gou, respectively. The share price of UMC has been anemic in recent years; however, thanks to foundry capacity strains in 2020, UMC’s operations improved by leaps and bounds, driving solid share price rallies and benefitting long-term investors.

The share price of Hon Hai also climbed to a three-year high in early 2021 after being muted for a long time, driven the launch of the MIH electric vehicle platform. As it turned out, many retail investors are very good at finding companies with solid operations and positive outlooks.

Of the top 20 most held stocks, tech and financial names roughly accounted for 50% each in 2011, but in 2020, financials outperformed tech names, with the former gaining one more space on the chart while the latter lost three.

In addition to Hon Hai, UMC and TSMC, other tech names that have been long favored by equity investors over the past ten years include AUO and Acer. Financial names that offer consistent dividend payouts and yields, alongside Yuanta/P-shares Taiwan Dividend Plus ETF, the very first ETF made it on the top holding list, and Chunghwa Telecom were also among the most held stocks. As stock saving becomes more prevalent, more and more investors are keen to engage stocks that offer stable dividends and yields, allowing themselves to benefit from stock market growth on a long-term basis.