TSMC contract terms’ first trading day: Taiwan stocks break 40k, and 00981A actively managed ETFs lead the gain

The Financial Supervisory Commission’s “TSMC clause” officially took effect on April 24. Monday, April 27, was the first full trading day. During intraday trading, Taiwan stocks set multiple historical records for the first time: it first surpassed 40,152.82 points and for the first time broke through the 40,000-point threshold. As a result, the beneficiary path for TSMC-clause linked ETFs came into view in full. In addition, Google Trends for 4/27 also showed a surge in hot searches clustering around “Taiwan stocks” (50k+ times), “00981a” (10k+ times), “0050,” “0056,” and more.

Core of the clause: For funds and active ETFs, the single-stock holding limit rises from 10% to 25%

On April 24, the Financial Supervisory Commission issued a letter stating that the maximum investment ratio for domestic stock-type funds and domestic stock active ETFs in a single stock would be relaxed from the original 10% of net assets to 25%. The new rules apply to “active” products. Passive index-tracking products (such as 0050), which track a specific index, do not fall under this clause. The market has dubbed it the “TSMC clause” because TSMC’s weight in the Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization Weighted Index exceeds 35%. In the past, fund managers were constrained by the 10% limit, preventing them from keeping up with the index’s upside.

00981A (Uni-President Taiwan Stock Growth): Active ETF surges by 170,000 users in one week

The ETF in this wave with the most representative beneficiary impact is Uni-President Taiwan Stock Growth (00981A). This is an active ETF. After the TSMC clause took effect, it can directly increase its TSMC holdings to 25% (close to half of the index’s weighting), significantly enhancing its ability to track the index. The beneficial effect also shows up in the capital flows: the number of beneficiaries of 00981A exploded by 170,000 in a single week. Similar active ETFs such as 00935 and 00919 also attracted inflows.

0050 and 0056 are not directly benefited, but they get lifted through linkage

0050 (Yuanta Taiwan 50) is a passive ETF that tracks the Taiwan 50 Index. TSMC’s weight in the index has already been about 30% due to the index’s cap, so it does not apply the TSMC clause itself. However, because TSMC’s stock price surged by 2,300 yuan and the linked move boosted 0050’s NAV, 0050’s weekly fund size actually increased by 119.5 billion, making it a “national-strength safe harbor” for long-term capital.

High-dividend ETFs such as 0056 (Yuanta High Dividend), 00919, and 00878 may not be eligible under this clause, but as overall sentiment in Taiwan stocks strengthens and their scale remains at a high level. The trend the market has observed is that capital is gradually shifting from “clinging to high-dividend holdings” to “attack-oriented growth” (i.e., active ETFs), and the scale of high-dividend ETFs has begun to decline at the margin.

Three things for investors to watch

First, whether the “effective investable exposure” of active ETFs can truly be raised to 25% in actual operations depends on fund managers’ choices and liquidity management. Second, if TSMC’s stock price further breaks through 2,500 yuan and 3,000 yuan, the reflexive amplification effect on the weighted index and active ETFs will be even more pronounced. Third, whether the Financial Supervisory Commission’s “attached conditions” will be revised again in the future—for example, limiting the risk disclosures from overly high concentration or requiring stress testing—will be a key regulatory development for the third quarter of 2026.

This article, first trading day of the TSMC clause: Taiwan stocks break 40,000; 00981A active ETF leads the way, first appeared on Lian News ABMedia.