Looking back at 2025, global capital markets witnessed extreme fund rotation: precious metals surged due to safe-haven demand and industrial demand, with silver leading the pack with triple-digit gains; meanwhile, the AI trend continued to drive Taiwan and US stock markets to new highs, resulting in substantial average profits for Taiwanese stock investors, while cryptocurrencies experienced a significant correction. Did you meet your performance targets in 2025? How should you adjust your strategies to prepare for 2026?
2025 Performance Ranking of Various Asset Types
The turbulent year of 2025 has come to an end in the blink of an eye. The performance of various assets in 2025 has been released. Did your performance meet the standards?
Precious metals surge: driven by both safe-haven demand and industrial demand
In 2025, the most outstanding asset performance was undoubtedly in the precious metals sector, with silver topping the list with an astonishing increase of 141%, and gold also recording a significant growth of 64%. This reflects the market's strong demand for "safe-haven assets" against the backdrop of continued global geopolitical tensions, with funds accelerating their escape from the fiat currency system and shifting towards physical assets with historical value storage functions.
Of particular note is the explosive performance of silver. In addition to safe-haven demand, the surge in industrial demand for silver in the green energy transition (such as solar panels) and high-end electronic components has led to a structural imbalance between supply and demand, further amplifying the price increase.
In a recent interview, Jim Rickards, author of "Currency Wars," even predicted that the price of silver would reach $200 in 2026.
Tech stocks demonstrate resilience: The AI wave supports Taiwan and US stock markets.
Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, the Taiwan and US stock markets, primarily driven by technology stocks, delivered a strong performance. The Taiwan Weighted Index rose 25.73%, highlighting Taiwan's irreplaceable core position in the global advanced semiconductor manufacturing and AI server supply chains, with robust export momentum directly reflected in corporate profits.
On the closing day of trading in 2025, the Taiwan Stock Exchange Weighted Index closed at 28,963.6 points, reaching a new historical high. For the year, it surged 5,928.5 points, a gain of 25.73%, marking the third consecutive year that the index has risen by more than 20%. According to the latest statistics from the Taiwan Stock Exchange as of the end of November this year, there were approximately 13.71 million stock market accounts in Taiwan, translating to an average profit of approximately NT$1.49 million per account this year.
In the US, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices rose by 20.36% and 16.39% respectively, mainly due to the strong balance sheets of large-cap technology stocks and the revenue growth expectations brought about by the commercialization of AI, which continued to attract global capital allocation.
Cryptocurrency faces crackdown: Regulatory pressure prompts funds to flow back to the real economy
In contrast to the booming traditional assets market, the cryptocurrency market entered a cooling-off period at the end of 2025, with Bitcoin and Ethereum falling by 5.98% and 10.5%, respectively. The crypto market experienced two significant "deleveraging" processes in April and October, with funds tending to flow back into the traditional financial system with real-world support or stable interest-bearing capabilities.
Review 2025 investment performance and formulate 2026 investment strategy.
I usually review my performance throughout the year at the end of the year and check and adjust my future investment strategies.
Since most investors may add precious metals and cryptocurrencies to their traditional stock and bond portfolios, it is recommended to use the return on total assets (AUM) as the evaluation criterion to assess whether they have successfully achieved their goals or whether they need to adjust their strategies in the future. The evaluation should include:
- What is the 2025 Overall Performance (AUM)?
- Performance and weighting of various asset classes in 2025
- Should we adjust the types and proportions of our asset allocation in 2026?
- Are there any new investment strategies and targets to explore in 2026?
As we move into 2026, we are emerging from the widespread AI frenzy and the benefits of cooling inflation. The "Trump effect" and geoeconomic fragmentation will continue to test investors. 2026 will be a period that will put fundamentals and the ability to select investment targets to the test.
This article, "2025 Asset Review: Silver Soars, Taiwan Stocks Hit New Highs, Did Your Performance Meet Targets?", originally appeared on ABMedia .
