The Exchange Fund plans to cast a wider investment net to lift returns after suffering a HK$6.3 billion investment loss in the second quarter.
The fund said it would put more money into property and yuan-based products.
Norman Chan Tak-lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), which handles the fund's investments, said the loss resulted from the deepening of the euro-zone crisis in May that dragged down global markets. The second-quarter loss offset a HK$44.4 billion profit in the first quarter.
In the first half, the fund earned HK$38.1 billion, down 17.9 per cent from a year earlier. The government, which puts its reserves in the fund for investment, will receive HK$19.3 billion for the half-year.
The fund had HK$2.55 trillion in total assets as of June 30 and has a mandate to stabilise the Hong Kong dollar under the HKMA's supervision. Its core investments in low-risk bonds and stocks give stable but low returns, so it started investing in property and yuan products from 2009 to lift returns.
The HKMA's Exchange Fund has about HK$100 billion in property, private equity and yuan-denominated shares and bonds, along with emerging-market bonds. It plans to increase this by another HK$60 billion, bringing the total to HK$160 billion - close to the HK$190 billion ceiling for such investments.