MPF October: Health care fund tops month, Korea fund still leads YTD

Data from MPF analytics platform MPFGo as of 28 October shows a sharply divided October: the Manulife MPF Health Care Fund topped the month with a 6.31% return — the first time in years the market’s only single-industry fund has led the rankings — while October’s worst performer, the Haitong Korea Fund (Class T), fell 11.05% yet remains the year’s best with a 54.75% year-to-date gain. The gap between 2026’s best and worst funds now stands at 70.67 percentage points.

Health care fund tops a month at last

The Manulife Health Care Fund was once highly popular but is now the only fund in the MPF market tracking a single industry, and it has struggled in recent years: its trustee’s governance report previously noted it trailed its benchmark (the Lipper Global Equity median) over one, five and ten years and since inception. MPFGo said the fund’s standout month, while equity funds were broadly under pressure, reflects a greater focus on earnings defensiveness and sector diversification — but a single-month gain of 6.31% does not mean lower volatility and should not be read as a short-term chasing signal. The fund is up 11.75% year to date, still below the full-year gains several Asia funds had accumulated earlier.

Year’s best fund is October’s worst

The Haitong Korea Fund, down 11.05% in October, still leads 2026 with a 54.75% year-to-date return; the Haitong Asia Pacific Fund lost 10.53% in the month but is up 28.6% for the year, and BEA’s three Asia equity funds — down more than 9.5% on average in October — remain over 21% ahead year to date. At the other end, Hong Kong and China equity funds continue to sweep all ten spots of the year-to-date losers’ list, with the BOCIP China Equity Fund the year’s worst at -15.92%. MPFGo noted the same fund can be both a full-year winner and a single-month loser, because annual gains include earlier cumulative returns while monthly charts only reflect the latest market conditions.

Bond funds rebound but stay negative for the year

Another October highlight: several bond funds entered the month’s top ten. The Principal Power Asia Bond Fund rose 1.35% in the month but is still down 1.93% year to date, and BOCIP’s Global Bond Fund remains 1.76% in the red for 2026. Bonds have traditionally been seen as a steadier hedge against equity risk, but they remain exposed to interest-rate, credit and currency moves — they are not capital-guaranteed products, and one month’s rebound has not turned the year around.

MPFGo: rankings alone should not drive fund switches

MPFGo said rankings are useful for identifying market themes and the gaps between funds, but should not be used on their own as a basis for switching. MPF is a retirement investment measured in decades: members should review funds by investment horizon, risk tolerance and overall allocation, looking at geographic exposure, sector concentration, fees and one-to-three-year performance. A fund leading in a given month may not sustain its edge, and a sharp fall does not necessarily mean its long-term investment case has changed.