Funds managed by the Ministry of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Funds earned returns of more than NT$470 billion (US$14.86 billion) in the first half of this year from their investments in Taiwan’s booming stock market, figures released by the bureau showed earlier this week.
The funds managed by the bureau, such as the Labor Pension Fund, the Labor Retirement Fund, the Labor Insurance Fund, the Employment Insurance Fund and the Arrear Wage Payment Fund, posted gains of NT$470.98 billion during the six-month period, for a rate of return of 8.59 percent.
The funds more than offset the NT$352.9 billion they lost last year, when the TAIEX plunged 4,081.15 points, or 22.4 percent, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, lost 27 percent.
Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times
In the first half of this year, the TAIEX rose 19.35 percent, while TSMC shares surged about 26 percent, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
The new Labor Pension Fund, launched in July 2015, had NT$3.79 trillion in assets as of the end of June, the most of any of the labor funds, and reported a rate of return of 8.38 percent in the first half, the bureau said.
The Labor Retirement Fund, which has been in place since 1984, had NT$998.8 billion in assets and reported a rate of return of 10.00 percent in the six-month period, the bureau said.
Overall, the funds managed by the Bureau of Labor Funds had combined assets of NT$5.86 trillion as of the end of June and generated NT$178.08 billion in returns in June alone.
That was the third-highest monthly gain on record, trailing only NT$240.23 billion in November 2020 and NT$191.32 billion in November last year, the bureau said.
Bureau of Labor Funds Deputy Director-General Liu Li-ju (劉麗茹) said the funds the agency manages have built positions in electronics stocks because the nation’s electronics industry, including TSMC, has stayed ahead of its peers in terms of global competition.
Judging from the performance of the local stock market last month, Liu said she expected the funds to post a gain of about NT$100 billion for last month. The TAIEX last month rose 229.89 points, or 1.89 percent.
From January 2013 to June this year, the funds have had an average 4.99 percent rate of return, she said.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS