Natixis sees Taiwan offshore fund mkt up 15-20 pct

* Natixis asset mgmt says cross-straits ties to lift fund mkt

* Sees Taiwan as gateway to Asian markets, including China

* Opens Taiwan unit, third in Asia after Japan, Singapore

By Faith Hung

TAIPEI, Nov 5 - Natixis Global Asset Management <CNAT.PA>, among the world's top 20 fund firms, expects Taiwan's offshore fund market to grow 15-20 percent in 2010 from about $65 billion now, as the island benefits from closer financial ties with China, a top executive said.

The French asset manager, aiming to cash in on improving cross-strait ties, will open a new Taiwan subsidiary -- its third Asia-based office after Japan and Singapore, and its first new regional office in 13 years.

Taiwan's roughly $52 billion fund market, one of the largest in Asia, is packed with global names including ING <ING.AS> Funds, BlackRock <BLK.N>, Prudential Financial <PRU.N>, UBS <UBSN.VX> and AIG <AIG.N>, which are locked in tight competition to serve the island's investors.

NGAM managed $668 billion in client assets globally as of June.

"Taiwan is a strong individual market. We believe it's a great gateway into Asia," John Hailer, NGAM's company president and chief executive said at a ceremony in Taipei on Thursday.

"The MOU with China could give Taiwan's financial industry more preferred treatments than what Hong Kong had got," Hailer added.

Taiwan is expected to sign a much-anticipated financial services pact with China within the month, a Taiwan government official said earlier this week, in the latest sign of easing trade ties across the Taiwan strait following a decades-long freeze. [ID:nTP166124]

The pact is projected to create profitable ties between financial sectors in China and Taiwan.