MPF investors earned $9,886 on average in May amid AI boom, GUM say

Mandatory Provident Fund investors each earned an average of HK$9,886 in May, Hong Kong's MPF and Employee Benefits (EB) consulting firm, GUM, announced on Wednesday, highlighting the sharp rise in the AI investment cycle and profit expectations.

In the first five months of this year, MPF investors earned an average of HK$23,628. GUM’s managing director, Michael Chan, said the Asian funds have emerged as the biggest winners amid high demand and severe supply shortages of memory and infrastructure required for AI development, with year to date returns exceeding 29 percent.

The GUM MPF Composite Index rose 2.9 percent to 307.1 points in May, the equity fund Index increased by 3.8 percent to 449.9 points, and the mixed asset fund Index rose 3.3 percent to 311.5 points. The fixed income fund index slightly rose by 0.2 percent to 133.8 points.

GUM's chief investment officer, Christopher Lau, pointed out that the firm has continued to favor Asian equity funds – the best-performing category in May – and US equity funds, which rose 4.5 percent and 10.9 percent in May, respectively. 

Meanwhile, Hong Kong equity fund lagged due to short-term earnings pressure on China-Hong Kong technology stocks, with the Hong Kong equity fund and Hong Kong equity fund (index tracking) falling 0.9 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

However, he pointed out that progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz remains volatile. He also mentioned that rising inflation expectations have prompted some central banks to start discussing the need for rate hikes, warning that bond-market pressure could spill over into equities.
 

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