The TWSE Corporate Governance Center held the endorsement ceremony of the Stewardship Principles for Institutional Investors (hereafter, the Principles) on 12 August. More than 40 representatives from over 20 institutional investors, including Taiwan's top 4 government funds, insurance companies, and domestic and foreign SITEs, attended the ceremony. Moreover, 14 institutions have endorsed the Principles to express their commitment to active engagement in corporate governance of their investee companies and to the pursuit of long term value.
　
The Principles, published by the TWSE in conjunction with SITCA, TDCC, and TFSR, is to urge institutional investors to monitor and communicate with investee companies and to encourage them to implement better corporate governance, hence, create mutual long term value.
　
TWSE Chairman Jun-Ji Shih delivered the opening speech. Chairman Shih said that the market oriented Stewardship Principles represented a breakthrough in government policy, and how it would be implemented in the future would be crucial. SFB Director-General Yung-Hsin Wang commented that consumers putting their money in pension plans, insurance, and investment trusts would be looking for stable long term returns, which was why monitoring corporate governance performance has always been an important part of investment process for institutional investors. SITCA Chairman Jeff Chang also mentioned that while equity was not the most popular investment choice in Taiwan, the release of the Stewardship Principles and it being endorsed and supported by some large-scale institutional investors at the ceremony would restore the confidence and bring value to the market as a whole.
　
More information on the Stewardship Principles and the list of signatures will be available and constantly updated on the Corporate Governance Center website (http://cgc.twse.com.tw/front/stewardship).