A financial market boom pushed up the asset gains of the funds managed by the Bureau of Labor Funds by about NT$176 billion (US$5.5 billion) in February, data released by the bureau showed yesterday.
The labor funds’ accumulated gains totaled NT$252.76 billion during the first two months of this year, up NT$176.38 billion from a month earlier, the bureau said.
Investors appeared more bullish about global financial markets, as US equities continued to move up while Chinese stocks turned stable, it said.
Photo: CNA
In February, the MSCI World Index rose 4.28 percent, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 4.77 percent and the MSCI All Country World Index grew 4.33 percent.
During this period, the TAIEX rose 1,077.21 points, or 6.02 percent, as interest in artificial intelligence development sent tech stocks higher.
Overseas investments accounted for 57.21 percent of total investments in the two-month period, while domestic investments made up the remainder, the bureau said.
The combined value of the funds managed by the bureau — the Labor Pension Fund, the Labor Retirement Fund, the Labor Insurance Fund, the Employment Insurance Fund and the Arrear Wage Payment Fund — totaled NT$6.288 trillion as of the end of February.
That represented a rate of return of 4.28 percent as of the end of February, the bureau said.
The asset value of the Labor Pension Fund, launched in 2015, totaled NT$4.103 trillion at the end of February, the highest among the funds, and its rate of return stood at 4.32 percent, it said.
The Labor Retirement Fund, introduced in 1984, had about NT$1.006 trillion in assets as of the end of February, with a rate of return of 5.05 percent, it said.
From January 2013 to February this year, the average annual rate of return on the labor funds was 5.71 percent, it added.
The bureau warned of challenges ahead for global financial markets, including the timing of a rate cut cycle by major central banks around the world, escalating geopolitical tensions and the impact on the global supply chain of attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
In addition, many countries are holding elections this year — including the US in November — which are expected to create more uncertainties in financial markets, the bureau added.
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