Labor funds' returns smash records in April

Taipei, June 2 (CNA) Funds managed by the Ministry of Labor's Bureau of Labor Funds reported a fresh high in returns in April due to a rally in the financial markets at home and abroad, the bureau said on Monday.

In a statement, the bureau said the labor funds recorded about NT$1.10 trillion (US$35.04 billion) in gains, smashing the previous high of NT$418.4 billion seen in February.

This comes after the funds suffered a historic loss of NT$378.7 billion in March, reflecting global market volatility after the U.S.-Israel war against Iran broke out at the end of February.

The bureau said that in April, the global stock markets staged a significant rebound with investors embracing a growing appetite to take risks due to AI enthusiasm and negotiations between the United States and Iran for a possible ceasefire.

Data compiled by the bureau showed the accumulated gains of the labor funds totaled NT$1.15 trillion during the first four months of this year.

The gains during the January-April period translated into a 20.21 percent rate of return, the bureau added.

In the first four months of the year, the Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, soared 34.40 percent, while the MSCI World Index rose 6.65 percent, and the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index also gained 0.16 percent.

According to the bureau, 56.33 percent of its investments were made overseas from January to April, while the remaining 43.67 percent were invested in the domestic market.

As of the end of April, 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, stood at NT$8.37 trillion, data from the bureau showed.

The labor funds managed by the bureau have various functions, mainly aimed at helping workers. Two major funds -- the Labor Pension Fund and the Labor Retirement Fund -- collect contributions from employers and employees every month and are managed by the bureau to boost the asset value, in a bid to help employees save and invest for their retirement.

The value of assets in the Labor Pension Fund, launched in 2015, totaled NT$5.47 trillion as of the end of April, the highest among all labor funds, and its rate of return for the January-April period stood at 19.73 percent, the bureau said.

The Labor Retirement Fund, which has been in place since 1984, had about NT$1.11 trillion in assets as of the end of April, with a rate of return of 31.55 percent for the four months, the bureau said.

Liu Li-ju (劉麗茹), deputy director of the bureau, said it was possible for labor funds to report more profits in May, when the Taiex rose about 10 percent and foreign markets also gained ground.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Public Service Pension Fund said on Monday that the Public Service Pension Fund, which the bureau manages, recorded NT$225.20 billion in gains in the first four months of this year, equal to a rate of return of 17.88 percent after NT$158.23 billion in profits in April alone.