UPDATE 1-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

(Updates comments, adds details)

By Faith Hung

TAIPEI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) (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.

(Editing by Joseph Chaney and Ken Wills)