The Ministry of Labor's Bureau of Labor Funds said on November 2 that the funds earned NT$117.8 billion in September alone and NT$2.4405 trillion year to date, a 30.73 percent return. AI-linked electronics heavyweights provided support, while Middle East tensions and a renewed US rate hike were cited as volatility factors.
According to the Taipei Times and the Central News Agency, total labor fund assets reached NT$9.2109 trillion at the end of September. The new-system labor pension fund stood at NT$6.0622 trillion with a year-to-date return of 30.43 percent and a September gain of NT$80.7 billion. The old-system labor pension fund, at NT$1.2117 trillion, returned 44.16 percent.
광고 문의 · 300×250Fund-by-fund results
The labor insurance fund, at NT$1.6812 trillion, returned 27.14 percent. The National Pension Insurance fund the bureau manages on commission, at NT$914.4 billion, returned 29.57 percent, and the farmers' retirement fund, at NT$32.5 billion, returned 40.72 percent. The employment insurance fund returned only 2.73 percent and the occupational accident protection fund 1.51 percent, while the wage arrears fund returned 17.33 percent, showing wide gaps by fund type.
Some media reported that new-system pension members would receive more than NT$130,000 each in distributed earnings, but outlets calculate this differently and the figure was not verified here against official bureau data. What is confirmed is each fund's size and year-to-date return.
Market backdrop and risk
The bureau said Middle East tensions had raised energy prices and inflation worries, and that the US Federal Reserve resumed rate hikes, strengthening the dollar and lifting Treasury yields. Taiwan stocks were volatile, with gains concentrated in a few electronics heavyweights and AI-related names continuing to lend support.
The bureau said it would keep focusing on long-term investment returns. Because this year's gains rest on a limited set of stocks, how a correction such as the late-October sell-off will show up in fourth-quarter results is not yet confirmed.