Funds managed by the Bureau of Labor Funds lost about NT$64.1 billion (US$2.06 billion) in the first quarter of this year, as global market volatility fueled by tariff threats from the administration of US President Donald Trump weighed on performance, the bureau said.
The funds lost NT$171.6 billion in March alone, wiping out a profit of NT$107.5 billion from the first two months and leaving a loss of NT$64.1 billion for the first quarter, the bureau said.
That amounted to a minus-0.94 percent return in the first quarter, it said.
Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times
Amid uncertainty over US tariffs, the TAIEX plunged 10.15 percent in the first quarter, while the MSCI All Country World Index dropped 1.32 percent.
The bureau said it allocated 42.01 percent of its funds to domestic markets and 57.99 percent to overseas investments.
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, totaled about NT$7.24 trillion as of the end of March.
The new Labor Pension Fund, launched in 2015, was the largest of the funds at NT$4.79 trillion as of March, with a return of minus-0.74 percent in the first quarter, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, the Labor Retirement Fund, in place since 1984, held NT$1.08 trillion in assets at the end of March and posted a return of minus-1.88 percent in the first quarter, it said.
The bureau said it would monitor the impact of US tariff policies and rising inflation on the markets, and adjust its investment strategies to improve returns.
The Bureau of Public Service Pension Fund said the Public Service Pension Fund managed by the bureau reported a loss of NT$25.09 billion in the first quarter, with a return of minus-2.48 percent.
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