MPF swings back to gains in June as first-half return hits 3.21pc

This article is a rewrite of a report from July 2012.

Hong Kong MPF turned from loss to gain in June 2012, edging up 2.37 per cent for the month. For the first half, members’ hard-earned savings survived a scare: a 3.21 per cent half-year gain on end-2011 MPF assets of over HK$356 billion — about HK$138,373 per account — added more than HK$11.4 billion in book value, roughly HK$4,442 per household.

June’s winners — and the second quarter’s casualties

Lipper’s June scorecard reversed May’s 6.03 per cent plunge, with all five fund categories in positive territory. The star was European equities, surging nearly 6.4 per cent, far above the 2.37 per cent overall average.

But the second quarter alone told a harsher story: South Korean equities crashed nearly 11 per cent, the worst-hit segment, underperforming the quarter’s sub-3.7 per cent average decline. Only a strong first quarter kept the half-year in the black across both stocks and bonds.

What did long-term MPF returns show?

Even with dollar-cost averaging smoothing volatility, some funds never escaped chronically weak markets: Japanese equity products shrank the longer members contributed, losing 1.57 per cent over 10 years against an average gain above 59 per cent.

Covering the same Lipper dataset as companion reports, this story’s angle was the monthly rebound narrative — June as the rescue, the second quarter as the reality check.