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Investing.com - Taiwan’s life insurance companies saw their foreign assets decline by more than 10% between March and May 2025, according to a report from Bank of America (BofA).
The lifers’ total foreign exchange assets fell by US$73 billion during the three-month period, with a significant portion of the decline attributed to foreign exchange losses from the weakening of USD/TWD. Despite the sector maintaining a hedge ratio of approximately 65%, the substantial decrease suggests insurers have begun net selling some foreign assets.
Taiwan’s United News Network reported on July 7 that life insurers sold NT$80 billion (US$2.7 billion) in foreign equities in May 2025 to help cover mounting foreign exchange losses.
BofA noted a strong divergence between robust net inflows to Taiwan and the muted reaction of USD/TWD, indicating resistance against additional TWD strength. The Central Bank of China (CBC) is considering stricter rules for pre-funding TWD to facilitate net purchases of Taiwanese equities, which would further limit the market’s ability to sell USD/TWD.
Despite regulatory relief reducing pressure on insurers to increase hedging and the CBC making TWD procurement more difficult, BofA continues to expect USD/TWD to decline further in the second half of 2025, driven by Taiwan’s strong export performance. The bank currently sees downside risk to its year-end USD/TWD forecast of 28.8.
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