Bureau of Labor Funds posts record high returns for 2023

Taipei, Feb. 1 (CNA) Taiwan's Bureau of Labor Funds recorded gains of NT$719.37 billion (US$22.9 billion) in 2023, the highest ever, from its investments, according to figures released by the bureau Thursday.

The return rate of 12.8 percent on the investments last year was also a record high for the bureau, which manages the Labor Pension Fund, the Labor Retirement Fund, the Labor Insurance Fund, the Employment Insurance Fund, and the Arrears Wage Payment Fund, the data showed.

For the month of December 2023 alone, the bureau reported gains of NT$112.71 billion. 

As of the end of December 2023, the total asset value of the funds was NT$6.035 trillion, according to the bureau, an agency under the Ministry of Labor.

In 2023, the new Labor Pension Fund recorded annual earnings of NT$478.56 billion, on a return rate of 12.6 percent, with both figures representing record highs, the data showed.

Beneficiaries of that fund, which was launched in 2015, will each receive NT$38,250 on average, the bureau said.

The gains of the Labor Insurance Fund, meanwhile, were a record NT$110.09 billion, on an annual return rate of 14.44 percent, the second highest on record after the 18.21 percent reported in 2009.