The 2023 annual report of the National Social Security Fund released by the National Council for Social Security Fund on October 12 shows that the average annual investment return rate of the social security fund since its establishment is 7.36%, with a cumulative investment income of 1682.576 billion yuan. The annual report on the entrusted operation of the basic pension insurance fund for the year 2023, released by the Social Security Foundation on the same day, shows that since its entrusted management in December 2016, the average annual investment return rate of local pension funds has been 5.00%, with a cumulative investment income of 306.671 billion yuan. The relevant person in charge of the Social Security Foundation stated that the foundation adheres to and continues to enrich the concept of "long-term investment, value investment, and responsible investment", prudently and steadily carries out investment operation management, and faithfully fulfills its main responsibility for fund safety and value preservation and appreciation. In 2023, the social security fund achieved positive investment returns and realized asset preservation and appreciation. From the perspective of investment performance, in 2023, the investment income of the social security fund will be 25.011 billion yuan, with an investment return rate of 0.96% (after deducting non recurring gains and losses, the investment return rate is 1.02%). Since its establishment, the annual average investment return rate of the social security fund has been 7.36%, with a cumulative investment income of 1682.576 billion yuan. From a financial perspective, by the end of 2023, the total assets of the social security fund will be 3014.561 billion yuan. Among them, direct investment assets amounted to 940.703 billion yuan, accounting for 31.21% of the total assets of the social security fund; Entrusted investment assets amounted to 2073.858 billion yuan, accounting for 68.79% of the total assets of the social security fund. Domestic investment assets amounted to 2.668568 trillion yuan, accounting for 88.52% of the total assets of the social security fund; Overseas investment assets amounted to 345.993 billion yuan, accounting for 11.48% of the total assets of the social security fund. The investment of social security funds continues to outperform the market, achieving positive returns for many consecutive years and realizing asset appreciation, reflecting the scientific investment philosophy, perfect asset allocation system, and sound risk compliance control system of the social security fund. The Social Security Foundation continues to deepen its understanding of the regularity of long-term fund returns and risk sources, continuously strengthens its analysis and judgment of macroeconomic and capital market situations, adheres to a global and long-term perspective, and has effectively played the role of long-term funds and patient capital Gao Ruidong, Chief Economist of Everbright Securities, said. The annual report on entrusted operation of local pension funds for 2023, released by the Social Security Foundation on the same day, showed that the investment income of local pension funds in 2023 was 39.589 billion yuan, with an investment return rate of 2.42%. Since its entrusted operation in December 2016, the cumulative investment income of local pension funds has reached 306.671 billion yuan, with an average annual investment return rate of 5.00%. In 2023, the pension fund entrusted by the Social Security Foundation will achieve positive returns, which is not easy and fully reflects the advantages of stable operation and standardized management of the Social Security Foundation Tian Lihui, Dean of the Institute of Financial Development at Nankai University, said. Market insiders who are optimistic about the long-term investment value of stocks say that it is not easy for social security funds to achieve a counter trend growth in asset value despite the overall sluggish performance of the capital market in 2023. In terms of asset allocation system, after years of exploration and practice, the Social Security Foundation has formed a relatively complete asset allocation system in the investment and operation process, including strategic asset allocation, tactical asset allocation, and asset rebalancing. According to Gao Ruidong's analysis, in 2023, due to multiple domestic and international factors, the volatility of the domestic capital market will increase. The Social Security Fund will actively recognize and adapt to changes, strengthen dynamic allocation, actively optimize and adjust the layout of major assets, and increase investment in fixed income assets while timely increasing holdings of domestic equity assets. It will effectively play the role of various assets in risk diversification and become an important guarantee for achieving positive returns. On the basis of steady investment, the Social Security Foundation is also continuously improving the investment and operation level of various types of assets, further enhancing its investment capabilities. Among them, in terms of stock investment, the Social Security Foundation stated that it firmly believes in the long-term investment value of domestic stocks, leverages the advantages of long-term funds and patient capital, invests in domestic stocks from a long-term perspective, seizes the window period of long-term value allocation, and lays out against the trend in the volatile market; Continuously improving the entrusted investment product system, exploring and expanding sources of excess returns, holding domestic management symposiums, and continuously strengthening management guidance and incentive constraints for managers. Strengthen communication and cooperation with overseas institutions, closely track changes in overseas markets, optimize the structure of overseas stock assets, seize investment opportunities in related industries and sectors such as artificial intelligence in overseas markets, and achieve good returns in overseas stock investment. Market participants believe that based on the management experience of the Social Security Fund, adhering to long-term investment is an important foundation for the Social Security Fund to achieve stable long-term returns. Market participants have also noticed that while pursuing long-term returns, the Social Security Fund actively serves the overall economic development of the country and has done a lot of work in innovation driven and green transformation. Innovation driven and green transformation are the key to whether China's economy can achieve high-quality development. In the past few years, the Social Security Foundation has made significant efforts in these two areas Peng Wensheng, Chief Economist of China International Capital Corporation, stated. Gao Ruidong also noticed that the Social Security Foundation actively practices the principle of sustainable investment, pays attention to multiple responsibilities such as environment, society, and governance, and demonstrates the responsibility of responsible institutional investors. Continuously conducting research on sustainable investment themes and conducting carbon emission assessments on domestic stock assets for the first time, providing reference for better understanding the current level and trends of carbon emissions, and serving the national "dual carbon" strategic goals with practical actions. (New Society)