Taiwan Stock Market Hits Record High Above 45,000 Points Fueled by AI Stocks; Asian Markets Also Reach New Peaks

Taiwan's stock market surged to a new record high of 45,533 points, propelled by a strong performance in AI-related stocks. This rally contributed to broader gains across Asian markets, with South Korea's KOSPI and Japan's Nikkei indices also setting new records.

The "Wealth Freedom" channel, in collaboration with Taiwan Economic News, is presenting "Master Stock Selection," a series that applies the investment logic of European and American masters to the Taiwanese stock market. The latest installment focuses on the value investing approach of Charles Brandes.

Brandes, a prominent disciple of Benjamin Graham, founded Brandes Investment Partners in 1974. Under his leadership, the firm grew its assets under management from $130 million to over $75 billion. His Brandes Global Equity Fund achieved a 17.91% annualized return over twenty years, significantly outperforming the MSCI World Index and earning a five-star rating from Morningstar.

Brandes emphasizes a long-term holding principle and adheres to the core tenets of value investing, rejecting the use of future prediction data. His strategy centers on "margin of safety" and a company's intrinsic value. To quantify his philosophy, this research uses net asset value instead of traditional discounted cash flow models and tests the strategy's performance through historical market backtesting.

The study uses data from all listed and OTC companies on the Taiwan Stock Exchange from 2013. The backtesting period, from January 1, 2020, to April 21, 2025, ensures data integrity and rigorous strategy examination by simulating historical performance only on qualifying samples.