Info Center

MPFA Chairman Mrs Ayesha Macpherson Lau today (30 December) published a blog post recounting the steady development of the MPF System in various areas over the past year.  As at the end of November 2021, the total MPF assets amounted to about $1.17 trillion, recording a year-on-year increase of 6%, including more than $390 billion in investment returns, net of fees and charges. The annualized net rate of return was 4.3% since the inception of the MPF System in 2000, higher than the inflation rate of 1.8% over the same period.  

Mrs Lau said that after assuming the chairmanship of the MPFA, she attached great importance to enhancing the retirement protection of the working population, actively leading the MPFA to review the MPF System with a view to exploring room for improvement, and enhancing the investment of MPF. Another important mission of MPFA is to develop the eMPF Platform project at full steam and drive the digital transformation of the MPF System. The MPF System has been in operation for 21 years, which is midway through its development journey towards a fully mature retirement protection system.

Mrs Lau said she was committed to leading the MPFA to further solidify the continuous development of MPF System in three directions.

Firstly, the MPFA will strengthen the communication with stakeholders with a view to educating the public about the MPF System so as to help them better prepare for their retirement by making good use of the MPF. In the past nine months since becoming Chairman of MPFA, Mrs Lau, along with her colleagues at the MPFA, had attended more than 50 stakeholder and media engagement activities, including visiting 13 labour and community organisations and more than 10 business chambers and MPF industry organisations to listen to their views and opinions on retirement protection and convey educational messages about the MPF System to more scheme members.

Secondly, the eMPF Platform project is the biggest reform of the MPF System since its inception, involving highly complex and important preparation tasks and development work. 2022 will be a critical time for the project.  The MPFA has launched a half-year consultation exercise in late December to reach out to prospective eMPF Platform users, including labour unions, business chambers, professional bodies and industry organisations, etc., to gather suggestions and feedback on the front-end portal of the eMPF Platform, which is under design at the moment. The aim of the exercise is to establish a one-stop, brand new, highly efficient public digital platform that is simple to use which can cater for the needs of the public.

Thirdly, the MPFA will continue to review the MPF System, including seeking ways to optimize MPF investment. In view of the rising demand from scheme members wishing to have wider fund choices targeting to keep pace with the inflation rate, exceed the inflation rate or achieve stable returns, the MPFA will continue to encourage the MPF industry to develop related funds to meet the investment needs of scheme members at different life stages. With regard to the measures to facilitate MPF investment in bonds issued by the Central People’s Government and Mainland policy banks unveiled earlier by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, the MPFA will provide full support to the Government in pursuing legislative amendments to implement the relevant measures.

As 2021 comes to an end, many MPF scheme members may be reviewing their MPF investments. Mrs Lau reminded scheme members that the MPF is a long-term investment which can span 30 to 40 years, accumulating retirement savings with monthly contributions aided by compounding effect. Scheme members therefore should not be overly concerned about short-term market volatility and must not try to time the market.

For the full version of the article, please visit the MPFA blog. The blog is in Chinese only.

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30 December 2021