Aging is an inevitable journey for everyone. Retirement is a topic everyone must face. Investing for retirement is a long-distance race using long-term funds. Generally, pension investments have a longer cycle and aim to meet post-retirement living needs, making asset allocation particularly crucial.

Index funds, with features such as low fees, transparency, and risk diversification, are an important asset class for allocation and a key tool for global pension investments. With the comprehensive promotion of personal pensions, the inclusion of index products in personal pension funds can complement target-date funds, further expanding the range of investable options for personal pensions. This provides residents with more diverse and differentiated choices for retirement investments, better meeting the pension allocation needs of different risk preferences and life cycle stages.

The first batch of index products included in personal pension funds mainly consists of broad-market and dividend-focused categories, which align well with the long-term, steady growth objectives of pension investments.

Broad-market indices reflect the overall performance of a specific market, covering a wide range of industries and a large number of constituent stocks, thereby diversifying risks. Pension investments often span decades, and in a healthy, sustainable economic environment with long-term upward market trends, investing in broad-market indices can help pension investors share in economic growth and achieve steady long-term returns.

Dividend indices focus on listed companies with long-term, consistent dividends and high payout ratios. These companies are typically stable, profitable, and have ample cash flow, offering a higher margin of safety in volatile markets. Investing in dividend indices can help pension investors secure stable dividends and benefit from the medium-to-long-term performance growth of these companies.

Investors can choose suitable index funds for pension asset allocation based on their risk tolerance and investment goals.

For those seeking relatively steady long-term returns, consider broad-market index products like the CSI A500 or CSI 300, which represent overall market performance, or dividend-focused products like the CSI Dividend Index with high payout potential.

For those with higher risk appetites, growth-oriented index products like the ChiNext Index or STAR 50 may be considered.