REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang
- Mark Mobius is betting big on Taiwan, after warning against putting money into China.
- "Taiwan is now our largest allocation," the billionaire investor told Bloomberg TV.
- Mobius' focus on Taiwan is spurred by his bullish outlook on the semiconductor industry.
Leading emerging markets investor Mark Mobius said Wednesday that most of his portfolio is focused in Taiwan, days after claiming that China had restricted him from taking his money out of the mainland.
In a Bloomberg TV interview, the founding partner at Mobius Capital, said he is looking more closely at Chinese stocks, though he acknowledged that depends on what "China" includes.
"Taiwan is now our largest allocation. Of course, it's Taiwan, a province of China," Mobius said. "So in fact, we're getting this exposure to China through Taiwan."
The billionaire's comments appeared to hew closer to Beijing's stance, which describes Taiwan as part of its territory even as the island has been self-governing for decades with growing support for a formal declaration of independence from mainland China.
Meanwhile, his focus on Taiwan comes after he told Fox Business last week to be "very, very careful" when investing in China, claiming that he couldn't pull his money out of an HSBC account in Shanghai.
"I can't get my money out. The government is restricting the flow of money out of the country," he said.
He added that the government hasn't explicitly banned such outflows but said it is putting up numerous barriers.
"They don't say, 'No, you can't get your money out,' but they say, 'Give us all the records from 20 years of how you've made this money,' and so forth. It's crazy."
Chinese officials pushed back on his claims, saying no barriers had been set up. Mobius also indicated to a Hong Kong newspaper that the situation has since been resolved, though he didn't provide specifics.
Mobius' focus on Taiwan is spurred by his bullish outlook on the semiconductor industry, saying China and the US are pouring enormous sums into production and research within the sector.
The island is home to TSMC, the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips. Shares in the company have jumped 19% since the year's start.
"The tech industry is number one for us, particularly anything related to semiconductors," Mobius told Bloomberg TV, describing chips as the top category in his portfolio.