Regional asset managers have a stronger brand perception in Taiwan

Research reveals Taiwanese financial intermediaries have a more positive perception of regional asset managers than their peers in Singapore and Hong Kong

Key points:

• Regional asset managers have a stronger brand perception in Taiwan than in Singapore and Hong Kong
• Regional asset managers were in the top five of recalled companies in five of the different asset classes and management styles
• Unprompted brand recall is the most influential factor when it comes to Taiwanese financial intermediaries’ purchase intentions

The top 20 of the Taiwan Brand Equity Index contains six regional asset managers, research by Fundamental Media found. This is more than in Singapore (4) and Hong Kong (0).

Financial intermediaries were asked which managers they associate with different asset classes and management styles. Regional asset management firms were in the top five of recalled companies in several of these, with two regional managers in the top five of recalled companies for ETFs, one in high-yield bonds, one in real estate, one in multi-asset and one in passive management (non-ETFs).

Unprompted brand recall is the most influential factor when it comes to financial intermediaries’ purchase intentions. Prompted familiarity was a less influential factor, but also positively impacting propensity to buy.

In March 2023, we surveyed 32 financial investment professionals in Taiwan to measure their perception of asset management brands and to identify key drivers of their purchase intentions.

When asking them about their familiarity with asset management brands, 84% of respondents were aware of at least 30 of the 36 prompted brands, while 22% were aware of all prompted brands.

Intermediaries were asked to mention up to three asset managers whose funds they are likely to increase the use of over the next 12 months, which was used to calculate each manager’s score for propensity to buy. We also asked intermediaries what values they attribute to those managers and what makes them want to buy these funds. This revealed that the brands with the highest propensity to buy scores had the most positive comments on ‘product/know-how’ and ‘brand’. Comments related to ‘performance’ and ‘communication’ were also positively correlated with propensity to buy but the strength of the correlation was very weak.

For access to the full report, contact [email protected]