Taipei, April 1 (CNA) In the wake of volatilities on global financial markets at a time of fears over the Trump administration’s tariff threats, funds managed by Taiwan’s Bureau of Labor Funds suffered a loss of about NT$1.2 billion (US$36.14 million) in February.
In a statement, the bureau said the funds’ accumulated gains, which reflect overall increases in the value of assets and investments, totaled NT$107.5 billion in the first two months of this year, down from NT$108.7 billion a month earlier.
That translated to a rate of return of 1.59 percent in the two months, the bureau’s data showed.
Speaking with reporters, Liu Li-ju (劉麗茹), deputy director of the bureau, said that the global markets felt the pinch from uncertainties created by the United States’ recent tariff policies.
In addition, the bureau said expectations about a rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve were eased amid growing concerns over inflation in the U.S. economy also dampened market sentiment in the month.
In Taiwan, the Taiex, the benchmark weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), fell 470.23 points, or about 2 percent in February.
According to the bureau, it allocated 42.58 percent of the funds to the domestic markets, while the remaining 57.42 percent went overseas.
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 NT$7.19 trillion as of the end of February.
The value of assets in the new Labor Pension Fund, launched in 2015, totaled NT$4.73 trillion at the end of February, making it the largest fund and its rate of return this year to the end of February was 1.59 percent during the two-month period, the bureau said.
The Labor Retirement Fund, which has been in place since 1984, had about NT$1.07 trillion in assets as of the end of February, with a rate of return of 1.96 percent in the two months, the bureau added.
Liu said the losses of these labor funds could extend into March when the global financial markets encountered even more headwinds ahead of an announcement of a fresh round of tariffs by Washington.
In Taiwan, the stock market fared even worse in March as Taiex tumbled 2,357.28 points or 10.23 percent. Liu said the local bourse accounted for about 20 percent of the total investments by the funds.
Liu said despite the short-term volatilities, the local stock market still enjoyed sound fundamentals in the longer term as Taiwan’s economy continued to benefit from a stronger electronics sector riding the waves of emerging technologies.
The bureau said the labor funds have posted stable and sound in a recent decade, citing a rate of return of 6.88 percent between 2015 and February 2025.
In 2024, the labor funds posted gains of more than NT$1 trillion, which translated to a rate of return of 16.48 percent.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Public Service Pension Fund said on Tuesday that the Public Service Pension Fund managed by the bureau recorded NT$6.58 billion in gains in the first two to three months of 2025 with a rate of return at 0.65 percent.
