Latest news with #MPFA
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Admin fees for Hong Kong's MPF down by 36% since launch of digital platform
Fees charged by Hong Kong's Mandatory Provident Fund have dropped by 36 per cent since the launch of its centralised digital platform last year, with over 2.7 million members and 70,000 employers to be managed under the new system by August, the scheme's chief has said. Mandatory Provident Fund Authority chairwoman Ayesha Macpherson Lau warned on Sunday that the next phase of migration onto the platform would be 'very challenging', as moving large volumes of data from the city's four largest service providers would be complex. The eMPF was launched on June 26 last year, the most significant reform of the city's 25-year-old compulsory retirement scheme, to provide a centralised platform that would replace the separate systems used by 12 different operators. Lau said administration fees had since declined. 'The fee charged by the eMPF is set at 37 basis points (0.37 per cent) currently, which is 36 per cent lower than the average of 58 basis points (0.58 per cent) charged by trustees before joining the eMPF, and will be further reduced gradually,' she said in a blog post. The eMPF will ultimately allow the 12 service providers, 367,000 employers and 4.75 million members to manage fund assets worth HK$1.326 trillion (US$170.3 billion) on a single platform on their mobile phones or computers. Lau added that the 'straight pass-on' requirement in MPF legislation ensured savings, estimated at a cumulative HK$30 billion to HK$40 billion over a 10-year period, directly benefited members of the scheme.
South China Morning Post
26-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's MPF managers told to prepare for US bond holdings after Moody's downgrade: MPFA
Fund managers participating in Hong Kong's US$167 billion Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) scheme may be forced to sell part of their holdings of US government bonds after the country lost its triple-A grade from three of the biggest rating companies. The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), the scheme's regulator, has instructed MPF trustees and fund managers to prepare for a contingency plan if the last remaining credit agency downgrades the US government bonds. 'Recently, the MPFA reiterated this reminder to all MPF trustees, urging them to evaluate the potential implications on MPF funds in consultation with relevant investment managers in view of the latest market situation,' the MPFA said in reply to a query from the Post on Monday. It also asked the 'trustees to formulate appropriate strategies and mitigation measures in case the US does not meet the definition of 'exempt authority' due to changes in credit ratings'. The MPFA said such preparation would be needed as the authority had no plan to change the current investment requirements. It would be the responsibility of the MPF investment manager to 'formulate suitable compliance contingency plans and make timely and orderly adjustments to their asset allocation in response to possible market developments while acting in the best interests of MPF scheme members', the MPFA added.
South China Morning Post
23-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong listing of private equity funds a step closer after MPF inclusion
The listing of private equity funds in Hong Kong could be on the horizon after the city's pension regulator included them on a list of permissible investments earlier this week. The inclusion came after Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in February encouraged alternative funds to raise financing in Hong Kong, arguing that it would make the city's capital markets more robust and attractive to the asset management industry. On Tuesday, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) included private equity funds as permissible investments for the pension fund amid market volatility spurred by the global trade war. The inclusion 'would encourage private equity funds to list in Hong Kong due to a broader, long-term investor base like the [Mandatory Provident Fund]', said Alfred Lam, a director at the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (HKVCA), on Friday. The MPFA said it would allow an MPF constituent to invest in private equity funds listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and authorised by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The pension regulator said it would grant approval on a case-by-case basis, evaluating factors such as volatility, fees and compliance with MPF rules. At present, Hong Kong has no private equity funds listed on its stock exchange, analysts said, though such ventures are allowed to be authorised and listed.
The Standard
21-04-2025
- Business
- The Standard
'Full portability' of employees' MPF contributions on the horizon
The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority will finalize its proposal on MPF full portability and submit it to the government, following the conclusion of a recent consultation, to give employees greater autonomy in managing their retirement savings, says chairwoman Ayesha MacPherson Lau. Lau, in a blog post, said initial feedback from the consultation, launched on March 28, included calls for the MPFA to further clarify the details of the full portability arrangement ahead of its implementation. Lau pointed out that after the Employee Choice Arrangement – commonly known as 'semi-portability' – was introduced in 2012, employees could transfer the entire amount of employee mandatory contributions in their contribution accounts from their employers' MPF schemes to a scheme of their choice once a year, thereby enabling them to select an MPF scheme that better suits their investment needs. Between 2020 and 2024, an average of HK$4.8 billion was transferred annually, up 27 percent from the HK$3.8 billion average in the preceding five years, Lau said. "As of March 2025, the cumulative value of such transfers surpassed HK$50 billion across more than one million transactions."
RTHK
21-04-2025
- Business
- RTHK
Workers set to get more say in managing MPF funds
Workers set to get more say in managing MPF funds The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority believes it is time to give employees full control over where their savings should be kept. File photo: RTHK The body which manages retirement savings for the city's workers says that over HK$50 billion of contributions have been transferred under an arrangement which gives employees more say on how to manage their mandatory provident fund (MPF). The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) added it is now inviting public views on how to make it even more flexible for people to switch between scheme providers. In an article published on Monday, MPFA chairman Ayesha Lau described 2025 as a pivotal year for Hong Kong's MPF system. First, an electronic MPF platform will be fully implemented by the end of the year, making it easier for workers to manage their portfolios. An offsetting mechanism which allows employers to settle severance or long service payments using employees' savings will also be abolished in May, nearly three years after a law amendment was passed. Finally, the MPFA is also looking to build on the success of the so-called 'semi-portability' arrangement. Officially known as the Employee Choice Arrangement, it enables workers to move their employee mandatory contributions to a different scheme provider once a year. Lau said the scheme facilitated over one million transfers since 2012, totalling over HK$50 billion. An average of HK$4.8 billion was transferred each year between 2020 and 2024, 27 percent more than the annual average in the previous five-year period. The MPFA is now hoping to expand the scheme so workers can also transfer their employers' contributions, an arrangement known as 'full portability'. A one-month public consultation is under way and people can submit their views by next Monday.
