CPF scheme funds lost 1.65% in Q1

They were hit by geopolitical uncertainty stemming from US-China trade tensions.

The overall performance of Central Provident Fund Investment Scheme (CPFIS) funds for the first quarter of 2018 declined 1.65% on average, Thomson Reuters Lipper revealed. This measures the performance of all unit trusts and investment-linked insurance products (ILPs) under the CPFIS.

According to the report, CPFIS-included unit trusts also lost 1.75% whilst CPFIS-included ILPs declined 1.60%. For all CPFIS-included funds, the money market fund posted positive returns of 0.2%; equities and mixed asset posted negative returns of 1.84% and 1.77%, whilst bonds dropped 0.78%. 

For the one-year period ended March 2018, the overall performance of CPFIS-included funds grew 8.32% on average. CPFIS-included unit trusts rallied 8.79% on the year and CPFIS-included ILPs soared 8.05%. For the one-year period, on average, equities (+10.75%) outperformed bond offerings (+1.05%), mixed-asset (+6.54%) and money market funds (+0.67%).

Thomson Reuters Lipper head of Asia Pacific Research Xav Feng commented, “Global markets are aware of the geopolitical developments around the world. Attention is on the developments and results of US-China trade discussions. Moreover, the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures index rose to 2% year over year from a 1.7% pace in February, signalling inflation and reinforcing expectations of an interest rate hike in June. Investors are advised to continue monitoring potential volatility risk under these circumstances.”