Mega Financial Holding Company Earnings Week Kicks Off! Foreign Investors Dump Financial Stocks, Shift to These 2 Active ETFs

Taiwan's financial holding companies are entering a 'Super Earnings Week,' with six major firms set to hold earnings briefings this week, shaping market sentiment for the second half of the year. However, just before these events, foreign investors offloaded financial stocks last week and shifted funds into active Taiwan equity ETFs. Notably, the two active ETFs—Uni-President Taiwan Stock Growth (00981A-TW) and Fu-Hua Future 50 (00991A-TW)—saw a combined foreign investor net buy of 178,000 shares, drawing significant market attention.

The six major financial holding companies—Fubon Financial (2881-TW), Cathay Financial (2882-TW), Yuanta Financial (2890-TW),兆豐 International Financial (2886-TW), First Financial (2892-TW), and华南 Financial (2880-TW)—will hold consecutive earnings calls this week, revealing their first-half performance. Investors are closely watching whether strong results from top performers like Cathay and Fubon will lift the broader financial sector. Additionally, insights into life insurance foreign exchange hedging strategies and investment operations will serve as key indicators for second-half investment positioning.

Despite this, foreign investors chose to lock in profits on financial stocks last week and instead heavily bought active ETFs. According to data, five of the top ten foreign investor sell-offs last week (August 17–21) were financial stocks, including Taishin & SK Life, E.Sun Financial, Yuanta Financial, Cathay Financial, and Kai-Chen Financial. In contrast, the two Taiwan active ETFs—00981A and 00991A—which have rebounded over 20% since their July 30 lows, became foreign favorites, with net buys exceeding 840,000 and 930,000 shares, respectively.

Looking deeper at year-to-date performance, the competition between these two active ETFs has been intense. 00981A led most of the year but briefly lost the performance crown to 00991A in June. However, amid the volatile Taiwan market in the second half, 00981A demonstrated strong contrarian management, rebounding nearly 21% from its July 30 low. With a year-to-date surge of 70%, it has reclaimed the top performance spot.

Looking ahead, Uni-President Research Team notes that Taiwan stocks corrected sharply in July due to global deleveraging and uncertainty over the Fed's monetary policy, with high-valuation AI-related stocks facing profit-taking pressure. Despite short-term volatility, industry fundamentals remain intact. Leading chip foundry firms have order visibility extending to 2030, indicating sustained AI demand and positive corporate earnings outlooks.

Long-term, advanced manufacturing processes—including fab, equipment, and packaging—as well as key AI infrastructure components like HVDC (high-voltage direct current) power modules and CPO (co-packaged optics), and cyclical upturns in memory, ABF/PCB upstream materials, and passive components remain highly favorable.

Performance Comparison of Two Taiwan Active ETFs:

- Code: 00981A, Name: Active Uni-President Taiwan Stock Growth, Latest Closing Price (NT$): 28.72, YTD Gain (%): 70, Foreign Buy Volume (Shares): 84,469 - Code: 00991A, Name: Active Fu-Hua Future 50, Latest Closing Price (NT$): 17.52, YTD Gain (%): 67, Foreign Buy Volume (Shares): 93,741

Source: CMoney, data as of August 21, 2026

Disclaimer: Mentioned stocks, funds, and futures are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investors should make independent decisions and bear their own risks.