Top MPFs of 2021

In fact, U.S. stocks posted their best three-year returns in 24 years. Even with the steep bear market at the onset of the pandemic, the Morningstar U.S. Market index has risen an average of 25.9% over the last three years. Over the same period, U.S. equity MPFs has an annualized return of 23.6%.

Funds investing in European equities came next in terms of their average return in 2021. For those tracking their MPFs on a monthly basis, European equity was the best-performing category in December in Hong Kong MPF market, as the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed another 6% in December and ended the year 2021 with a 22.7% gain. The average return of the 11 Europe equity MPFs in December was 5.2%. Eight of those funds entered the top 10. The best performer in the category, AIA MPF - PVC European Equity, rose 6.4% and concluded the one-year period with a 20% gain.

Global equity closely followed Europe-focused funds. Fee-capped allocation funds, DIS - Core Accumulation Fund ranked the fourth with a 10% return.

However, out of the 475 MPFs offered, the best individual fund was Sun Life MPF Comp Stable Growth, which is a moderate allocation fund. A catch-up of 10.6% in December flipped the full-year return to a positive 7.9% from a negative return accumulated in the first 11 months. 

The weaker side of the MPF market in 2021 was dominated by Asia asset classes. The worst performers came from Hong Kong equity and China & Greater China equity, both finishing the year with a double-digit losses. Although the month of December was relatively quiet in terms of regulatory crackdown, the dampened sentiment pushed the Hong Kong and China & Greater China markets down in December by a further 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively. 

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