《TAIPEI TIMES》Despite mixed July financial markets, labor funds post year-to-date gains

Staff writer, with CNA

Despite a mixed performance on the global financial markets in July, labor funds managed by the Bureau of Labor Funds posted gains of NT$86.4 billion （US$2.69 billion） in the month.

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The funds’ accumulated gains, which reflect increases or decreases in the value of assets in the funds’ portfolios and income on investments, totaled NT$885.7 billion in the first seven months of this year, up NT$86.4 billion from the end of June, the bureau said in a statement yesterday.

Global financial markets were interrupted in July by uncertainties created by the change of presidential candidate by the US Democratic Party and disappointing earnings reported by US companies, the bureau said.

However, moderating inflation and strong GDP figures in the second quarter in the US lent some support to global financial markets in the month, it said.

In July, the TAIEX fell 3.62 percent, while the MSCI World Index rose 1.61 percent and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index was up 0.25 percent.

Still, the TAIEX soared 23.81 percent in the first seven months, compared with a 13.1 percent increase in the MSCI World Index and a 7.68 percent rise in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index over the same period.

According to the bureau, 57.28 percent of the labor funds’ investments were made overseas and the remaining 42.72 percent were invested domestically as of the end of July.

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$6.85 trillion as of the end of July.

Based on that value, the gains represented a rate of return of 14.33 percent in the first seven months of this year, the bureau said.

The value of assets in the new Labor Pension Fund, launched in 2015, totaled NT$4.47 trillion at the end of July, the highest of any fund, with a 14.24 percent rate of return so far this year as of the end of July, the bureau said.

The Labor Retirement Fund, which has been in place since 1984, had about NT$1.06 trillion of assets as of the end of July, with a rate of return of 16.42 percent, the bureau said.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Public Service Pension Fund yesterday said that the Public Service Pension Fund that it manages posted NT$129.08 billion in gains in the first seven months, a 14.54 percent rate of return.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES