Hong Kong’s two largest pension funds for teachers and staff of public schools more than doubled returns from investments, thanks to US stock price gains driven by strong corporate earnings of technology mega caps such as Nivida Corporation and Apple Inc, which were among their top ten holdings.
The Subsidised Schools Provident Fund (SSPF) posted a return of 9.69% in the financial year ended August 2024, the highest since the 2021 financial year and up from 3.57% in 2023, the Education Bureau says in a statement on February 10.
The SSPF earned HK$5.62 billion (US$719.5 million) from investments in local and foreign stocks, up from HK$1.05 billion in 2023. These securities accounted for 51% of its assets, which rose 5.06% year-on-year to HK$91.89 billion.
The announcement comes two weeks after the Education Bureau announced that the Grant School Provident Fund (GSPF) posted a return of 10.51% in the 2024 financial year, also the highest since 2021 and up from 4.35% in 2023.
The fund earned HK$243 million from investments in stocks, up more than three-fold from HK$71.18 million in 2023. These stocks accounted for 51% of its net assets, which grew 2.74% to HK$3.56 billion.
According to the Education Bureau, the investment objectives of the SSPF and the GSPF are to “maximise the recurrent and capital return on their assets and at the same time observe the principle of prudence”.