TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — About 10% of respondents said they participate in Taiwan’s government-backed Taiwan Individual Savings Account program, according to a survey released by Taiwan Life Insurance.
The survey found that 64.4% of TISA participants invest less than NT$5,000 (US$159) per month through the program, reflecting its focus on low-barrier, long-term investing, according to CNA and Business Today.
TISA was established by the Financial Supervisory Commission through the Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp., drawing on similar systems in the UK and Japan. The program promotes regular, long-term investing through fixed monthly contributions, low management fees, and the compounding effect of long-term returns.
The survey also showed demand for broader investment choices and tax incentives under a potentially expanded TISA program. Among respondents who had not joined the program, 32.2% said tax benefits would increase their willingness to participate.
Another 31.2% said they would be more interested if the program allowed investments in stocks or exchange-traded funds. ETFs are professionally managed funds that track specific market indexes, such as the Yuanta/P-shares Taiwan Top 50 ETF (0050), which follows Taiwan’s 50 largest listed companies.
Taiwan Life Insurance and the National Chengchi University College of Commerce have jointly conducted the survey annually since 2020. The latest survey was conducted online among Taiwanese residents aged 20 and older and collected 1,300 valid responses at a 95% confidence level.
According to the Ministry of Labor, Taiwan’s labor pension fund under the new pension system recorded a cumulative return of about 10.28% in the first two months of the year. A popular TISA-linked feeder fund, which invests more than 90% of its assets in the 0050, posted a return of 24.5% over the same period, reflecting differences in investment composition and risk exposure between the two.
