MPF drops for a second month, erases January gains
Retirement scheme's funds fail to build on last year's performance, with recent declines reflecting nervousness over global economy
The Mandatory Provident Fund, covering 2.5 million employees in the city, has recorded two consecutive months of losses that have wiped out much of its gains in January.
The 455 investment funds under the retirement scheme reported an average loss of 0.24 per cent in March, after an average loss of 0.58 per cent in February, according to data provider Lipper. This erased a good chunk of the 2.61 per cent gains in January.
With the March performance, the first-quarter MPF returns stand at a modest 1.74 per cent.
It follows strong gains averaging 12.07 per cent last year, which in turn came after average losses of 8.42 per cent in 2011 and average gains of 7.18 per cent in 2010.
Last month's best performers were Japan equity funds, with an average return of 5.85 per cent. Mainland China equity funds fared the worst, with losses of 3.59 per cent. Hong Kong-focused equity funds reported losses of 2.44 per cent. Global equity funds on average returned 0.52 per cent while mixed-asset funds returned 0.01 per cent.
On a quarterly basis, too, Japan equity funds were the best performers, returning 12.92 per cent, followed by pharmaceutical and health equity funds, at 11.48 per cent, and US equity funds, at 9.47 per cent.