《TAIPEI TIMES》Rate cut hopes boost labor funds

PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR: The value of assets in the new Labor Pension Fund totaled NT$3.96 trillion at the end of November and its 11-month rate of return was 10.58%

Staff writer, with CNA

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Expectations of interest rate cuts and moderating inflation stabilized global financial markets and boosted the value of funds managed by the Bureau of Labor Funds to NT$606.67 billion （US$19.65 billion） in the first 11 months of last year, up NT$182.79 billion from the amount accumulated in the first 10 months, the bureau said yesterday.

The November gains reversed a NT$153.48 billion decline recorded in October last year, bureau data showed.

With inflation showing signs of slowing, hopes that major central banks would ease their monetary policy following aggressive rate hikes sent equities and bonds higher worldwide in November, the bureau said.

In the first 11 months of last year, the TAIEX soared 23.31 percent, while the MSCI World Index also surged 16.60 percent. In addition, the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index rose 1.50 percent in the same period.

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 Arrears Wage Payment Fund — totaled about NT$6.03 trillion in the first 11 months of last year.

Based on that value, the gains represented a rate of return of 10.82 percent, the bureau said.

The value of assets in the new Labor Pension Fund, launched in 2015, totaled NT$3.96 trillion at the end of November, the highest of any fund, and its rate of return during the first 11 months of last year was 10.58 percent, the bureau said.

The Labor Retirement Fund has been in place since 1984 and had about NT$994 billion of assets as of the end of November, with a rate of return of 12.66 percent, the bureau said.

Despite the rate cut hopes, the bureau said the global economy remains vulnerable to uncertainties that could weigh on financial markets, while geopolitical tensions are also expected to affect economic recovery.

The bureau said it would keep a close eye on any economic and political developments worldwide and adjust its investment strategy to increase the long-term returns of the labor funds it manages.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES