The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority showed on Wednesday that the equity fund and mixed assets fund recorded average annualized net returns of 4.8 percent and 4.4 percent since the inception of the MPF system, outperforming the annualized inflation rate of 1.8 percent over the same period.
For the 12 months ending in March, the equity fund and mixed assets fund, which together accounted for 80 percent of total MPF assets, registered average returns of 16 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, the pension fund regulator said.
Among the equity funds, the best performer recorded a return of 115.4 percent, while the laggard posted a loss of 0.3 percent.
Regarding the core accumulation fund under default investment strategy, commonly called "funds for lazy people", its average annualized net return since launch in 2017 was 6.4 percent, which also outperformed the annualized inflation rate of 1.8 percent for the period.
The return of the core accumulation fund under DIS reached 12.4 percent in the past 12 months, with the highest and lowest annualized net return among individual funds being 20.1 percent and 11.2 percent.
Bond fund and MPF Conservative Fund also gained 1.9 percent and 1 percent as of the end of March, while the returns recorded 3.7 percent and 2 percent during the past 12 months.
MPFA reminded MPF scheme members that MPF is a long-term investment spanning more than 40 years, and members should avoid adopting a short-term investment approach in managing their MPF or attempting to time the market, as this may lead to "buying high, selling low" and adversely impact MPF investment returns during the accumulation phase of scheme members.
Scheme members who lack the time or investment knowledge to manage their MPF can consider DIS, the regulator said, adding that the fees of funds under DIS are capped at 0.85 percent of the net asset value of the funds for MPF schemes after onboarding to the eMPFTM Platform.
