March proved challenging for my Manulife MPF portfolio, marking its second monthly underperformance against the overall MPF system since January 2024. A sharp pullback in the China stock market drove a 4.39% decline in my MPF portfolio, while the MPFR All Fund Performance Index declined by only 1.34% during the month.

The strong rally in Chinese stocks in January and February 2025 was fueled by the DeepSeek breakthrough, a Chinese AI model recognized for its cost-effectiveness and high performance. However, potential US tariffs on global trade partners introduced uncertainty, sending frets across global stock markets. In early March, I increased weightings in the China Value Fund and the European Equity Fund, as their valuations remained attractive. This adjustment, however, contributed to the significant loss in March. Meanwhile, I further reduced the weighting in the North American Equity Fund due to stretched valuations and capital outflows.