CPFIS-included funds hammered by losses in Q42018

As of December 2018, CPFIS-included funds posted a negative return of 7.91% on average.

Funds included in the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) posted losses in 2018 as they posted a negative return of 7.91% on average as of End December 2018. Unit trusts in the scheme were down by 9% and investment-linked products (ILPs) were down by 7.27%. This was the worst showing since around 2011.

The fourth quarter alone showed a negative 7.45% average return; with unit trusts and ILPs generating minus 8.74% and 6.69%, respectively. As of December 31, 2018, there were 85 unit trusts and 156 ILPs included.

However, for the last three years (2016-2018) Central Provident Fund Investment Scheme (CPFIS) included funds achieved 11.94% growth on average, accounted for a gain of 12.39% on average from CPFIS-included unit trusts and 11.67% from CPFIS-included investment-linked insurance products (ILPs), according to a Lipper report.

By asset class, across all CPFIS-included funds, equity and mixed-asset funds posted negative return of 10.19% and 5.84% respectively, while bond and money market funds achieved positive returns of 1.43% and 0.35% respectively.