Taiwan stocks pull back nearly 3,000 points in 3 weeks
Taiwan stocks have faced heavy selling pressure recently, with the TAIEX pulling back nearly 3,000 points in just 3 weeks, while the OTC index fell about 8.1%, significantly eroding many investors' paper gains. After the holiday, Taiwan stocks once surged 544 points, then sharply reversed, turning negative intraday and falling 364 points, with an intraday high-low swing of over 900 points, closing up only 54 points, indicating intensified volatility at high levels.
0050 falls nearly 8%, 00981T down only 0.42%
Facing this correction, different ETFs showed clear performance divergence. The investment fan page "籌碼小哥葛" observed that 元大台灣50 (0050) fell about 7.88% over the past 3 weeks, while 00981T fell only about 0.42% on a total-return basis including distributions. Both faced the same correction, and the gap has drawn market attention. However, the two ETFs have different investment strategies and asset allocations, and short-term declines alone cannot determine which is better.
70% bond allocation reduces market correlation
The key to 00981T's relative resilience lies in its different stock-bond allocation. The ETF adopts a strategy of about 70% bonds and 30% Taiwan stocks, with only about 30% of funds invested in Taiwan stocks and the remaining 70% allocated to bonds, resulting in lower correlation with the broader market. The bond portion mainly consists of U.S. dollar corporate bonds issued by companies in global developed markets, rather than mainly U.S. Treasuries, with an investment-grade credit rating requirement, covering financials, telecommunications, technology, energy, and materials industries. Constituent bonds include corporate bonds issued by 波音, MetLife, Dow and others, earning interest through diversified holdings while diversifying single-industry or single-company exposure.
Distribution rises to 0.082元, NAV still matters
On distributions, 00981T's per-unit distribution has risen from 0.054元 to 0.057元, 0.065元 and 0.071元, and recently remained at 0.082元. Based on the latest 0.082元, the single-period annualized distribution rate has exceeded 8%. However, a single-period annualized distribution rate is not equal to actual full-year return, and distributions will vary with income sources, portfolio holdings and market conditions, so NAV, total return including distributions, and fees still need to be monitored. "籌碼小哥葛" believes that being bullish on Taiwan stocks for the long term does not mean betting everything on stocks; investors can match growth stocks, market-cap ETFs, cash or bond products according to risk tolerance and funding needs, to reduce volatility and preserve previously accumulated gains.