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.
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