Labor funds report NT$64.1 billion in losses in Q1

Taipei, May 3 (CNA) Funds managed by Taiwan's Bureau of Labor Funds lost about NT$64.1 billion (US$2.06 billion) in the first quarter of this year, as global market volatility fueled by tariff threats from the Trump administration weighed on performance, according to the bureau.

The bureau said the funds lost NT$171.6 billion in March alone, wiping out a NT$107.5 billion profit from the first two months and leaving a loss of NT$64.1 billion for the first quarter.

That amounted to a minus 0.94 percent return in the first quarter, according to the bureau.

Amid uncertainty over U.S. tariff policy, the Taiex plunged 10.15 percent in the first quarter, while the MSCI World Index dropped 1.32 percent.

The bureau said it allocated 42.01 percent of its funds to domestic markets and 57.99 percent to overseas investments.

The combined value of the funds managed by the bureau, including the Labor Pension Fund, the Labor Retirement Fund, the Labor Insurance Fund, the Employment Insurance Fund and the Arrear Wage Payment Fund, totaled about NT$7.24 trillion as of the end of March.

The new Labor Pension Fund, launched in 2015, was the largest of the funds at NT$4.79 trillion as of March, with a return of minus 0.74 percent in the first quarter, the bureau said.

Meanwhile, the Labor Retirement Fund, in place since 1984, held NT$1.08 trillion in assets at the end of March and posted a return of minus 1.88 percent in the first quarter, the bureau said.

The bureau said it will monitor the impact of U.S. tariff policies and rising inflation on the markets and adjust its investment strategies to improve returns.

The Bureau of Public Service Pension Fund said the Public Service Pension Fund managed by the bureau reported a loss of NT$25.09 billion in the first quarter of 2025, with a return of minus 2.48 percent.