The Bureau of Labor Funds reported record investments gains of NT$719.37 billion (US$22.96 billion) last year, bureau data showed yesterday.
The return rate of 12.8 percent on the investments last year was also a record for the bureau, which manages the Labor Pension Fund, the Labor Retirement Fund, the Labor Insurance Fund, the Employment Insurance Fund and the Arrears Wage Payment Fund.
The bureau manages the funds in a bid to protect workers’ livelihoods after retirement, with the goal of long-term stable returns, it said in a statement.
Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times
The investments include domestic and foreign stocks, bonds and alternative assets, which combined had an average return rate of 5.2 percent from 2014 to last year, it said.
As of the end of last year, the total value of the funds was NT$6.035 trillion, said the bureau, an agency of the Ministry of Labor.
The new Labor Pension Fund, with an asset value of NT$3.95 trillion, posted record earnings of NT$478.56 billion last year, as well as a record return rate of 12.6 percent, the data showed.
As there are 12.51 million active accounts, beneficiaries of the new Labor Pension Fund, which was launched in 2015, would each receive NT$38,250 on average, the bureau said.
The gains of the Labor Insurance Fund were a record NT$110.09 billion on an annual return rate of 14.44 percent, the second-highest on record after the 18.21 percent reported in 2009.
The bureau said it would closely watch macroeconomic developments, geopolitical tensions and global financial markets, while adjusting its portfolios in a timely manner to improve long-term investment returns.
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