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The average Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) benefits held by scheme members almost tripled from $53,000 to $144,000 in the 10-year period ending in December 2015, according to the report titled Statistical Analysis of Accrued Benefits Held by Scheme Members of Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes, published by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) today (25 October).
 
Published for the first time to enhance the transparency and public understanding of the MPF System, the report shows that as of December 2015, total MPF assets amounted to $591 billion, held by 4.1 million scheme members which included employees and self-employed persons and members holding only personal accounts.

An MPFA spokesperson said, “These figures show that the MPF System, though operated for only 15 years and is still young, has played an important role in helping the employed accumulate savings for basic retirement protection.”
 
Scheme members of different age groups and gender were found to have different average amounts of MPF benefits. Members aged between 35 and 54 had more benefits than other age groups. By gender, the benefits of male members ($158,000) were 22% higher than those of female members ($130,000).
 
The report also shows that the amount of voluntary contributions¹ (VCs) and special voluntary contributions² (SVCs) has grown rapidly over the years. From 2006 to 2015, the total amount of VCs almost tripled. Total SVCs in 2015 were almost 26 times the amount in 2006.
 

“As a percentage of total contributions, VCs and SVCs taken together rose from 11% to 23% during 2006 to 2015. This is a clear indicator of scheme members’ and employers’ growing confidence in the MPF System,” the spokesperson added.

In addition, as of December 2015, the MPF System had 3.78 million contribution accounts³ (CAs) and 5.12 million personal accounts⁴ (PAs). On average, each employee member had 1.23 CAs (as some scheme members had more than one job concurrently) and each PA holder 1.72 PAs. Of the PA holders, 58.2% had only one PA, 24.0% had two and 1.2% even had six or more. 

The spokesperson said, “PAs are mainly generated when scheme members change jobs, and the large number of PAs is chiefly due to scheme members’ not consolidating their accounts after they have changed jobs. If scheme members hold too many personal accounts, they have to spend much more time managing their MPF benefits, which are distributed in different accounts. They might even forget their investment mandates in these accounts. Therefore, the MPFA encourages scheme members to consolidate their MPF accounts for easy management of their MPF investment. Scheme members can check with the MPFA if they have forgotten the number of PAs they have or the relevant trustees of their accounts.”

More analysis of the types of accounts and the MPF benefits held by scheme members can be found in the report, which has been posted on the MPFA website.

25 October 2016

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