MPF Matters

MPF Matters has written on the following in recent months:

July 2014

MPF Matters – Final Issue
With no MPF Matters
Universal Pension – Now is the time; Professor Nelson Chow’s Report
Providing Better Investment Solutions for MPF Members – The MPFA’s Consultation Paper
Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2014
No new MPF Funds
Target Date Funds
MPFA point out an error In MPF Matters, that Fatca Letter
And Fatca

June 2014

In the news, collective defined contribution schemes
MPF, on the verge of some major changes
The core fund developments
The existing MPF default funds
FATCA, United States and Hong Kong announce an intergovernmental agreement
FATCA compliant foreign financial institution spotting made easy
So, does the intergovernmental agreement include MPF, does it include ORSO?
More on MPFA’s first imprisonment

May 2014

FATCA, Singapore News…
…To be on the first Foreign Financial Institution List, Registration Deadline 5th May
Full Employee Choice In MPF, maybe 2017
MPF savers left behind In the Shanghai Hong Kong Connect
First MPF defendant to go to prison
Upcoming Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Amendment Bill
MPF Market Share Report, highlighting some developments
Investment terminology, the need to keep it comprehensible
Legco question prompts a summary of MPF developments…
…On MPF contributions and fees…
…Fee Caps, Core Funds and Member Choice

April 2014

Hong Kong Equities, Index and actively managed Funds
The Legco Debate on Long Service and Severance Payments
A very narrow application of pension fee caps In the UK
UK Budget changes for Defined Contribution Plans
MPF Asset Based and Variable Costs, a top down view
Updating the Hong Kong Government’s Pension Liabilities
The Hong Kong Government contemplates raising new joiners’ retirement age
FATCA, just what will it achieve?

March 2014

The Hong Kong Budget, underestimating the growth in the number of elderly?
The MPF “Price war”
MPF, dragged through the mire again
Those Ernst and Young fee comparisons, that Report revisited
FATCA, getting ever nearer to July 2014
The OECD’S Common Reporting Standards
Population Policy: The Bauhinia Foundation’s Commissioned Report

February 2014

ORSO and its relevance to the Long Service and Severance Payments debate
FATCA, little interest from the regulators
Common Reporting Standards
The latest way to get MPF fees down, get a core fund
New MPF US & Hong Kong Equity Fund from FWD, New Hang Seng Index Tracking Fund from AXA

January 2014

MPF investment performance, mixed results for 2013
FATCA, the one certainty of 2014?
FATCA, the MPFA put out a letter to ORSO Employers and Administrators
The Hong Kong Government’s various Commissions
The Financial Services Development Council
Principal merges its MPF Series 500 Scheme into the MPF Series 600 Scheme, Manulife merges its Manu-Lifestyle Scheme into the Global Select Scheme
Sun Life launches a Hong Kong Index Fund
The MPFA responds to an article in MPF Matters
The Hong Kong Government’s Pension Liabilities
SPDR Gold Shares

December 2013

MPF, birthday greetings but missed opportunities
FATCA and Tax Evasion, Cayman’s Intergovernmental Agreement with the United States
FATCA, part of a growing global approach
Some good words for AMTD
MPF fees may be going down but some Fund Expense Ratios are rising
New MPF Funds from Manulife, Schroders and Standard Chartered
Postscript on new MPF fund introductions

November 2013

On Capping fees, Hong Kong and British style
Hong Kong Government Policy, Population, Housing and Balancing the Budget…
… an alternative view
FATCA, yes the Hong Kong Government are talking to the United States about an Intergovernmental Agreement…
…The Role of a Regulator…
…and back to FATCA
SFC loses out to an appeal over an Insider Dealing conviction
FWD’s MPF Investment Managers

October 2013

MPFA starts its campaign to consolidate MPF accounts
The Commission on Poverty
The Commission on Poverty sets the poverty measure for Hong Kong
MPF and other missed pension opportunities, Save More Tomorrow
MPF’S 30% in Hong Kong rule, time to review it
Global Bond Funds
ING’s Hong Kong ORSO and MPF products get their name changes after the Pacific Century Group takeover
The last of the MPF Japan funds using the Templeton APIF closes down

September 2013

Interest Rates manipulated, officially this time
Another Japan Equity Fund is closed down, this time MassMutual’s
Understanding Employee Choice, the HSBC Survey
Another survey, no surprises but what is the MPFA’s Reaction?
QROPS and Hong Kong, HMRC seeing the light
ORSO and the MPFA
More from the MPFA Annual Report – MPF Employer Contributions
More from the MPFA Annual Report – Self Employed Contributions
And a last word on the MPFA Annual Report, the MPFA itself
New RMB Money Market Fund from Allianz Global Investors MPF Plan

August 2013

MPFA Annual Report 2012-13
FATCA, add another six months
FATCA and the data privacy issue
BOCI-Prudential and the closing of the My Choice Japan Equity Fund
Long Service Payments, Severance Payments and the MPF
Credit Rating Agencies
Infrastructure Australia
RMB Bond Funds
The Royal Bank of Scotland Lehman Brothers Equity Linked Notes Settlement

July 2013

FATCA
The Unused Power of MPF
Thoughts of Anna Wu
Employee Choice, A Success or Not? Depends on who you are
Civil Service Provident Fund Scheme
Credit Rating Agencies
No New MPF Constituent Funds but Some New Approved Pooled Investment Funds

June 2013

FATCA, Singapore, Germany and Luxembourg sign up, talk of a European version
Key elements in a defined contribution system
Financial Literacy
Could the Lehman minibond problem have been avoided with better financial literacy?
Hong Kong Monetary Authority announces new mystery shopping programme
AIA in Malaysia announce their Private Retirement System scheme product
Fidelity Introduce an MPF Hong Kong Tracker Fund, JP Morgan’s new SAR Behavioural Finance Fund

May 2013

FATCA, getting so much closer, Ireland showing the way
MPF fees, how is anybody supposed to find out what they are and what they are paying?
Fund Expense Ratios
Bank Consortium ask for clarification
AMTD, just why their fund expense ratios are so high
Malaysia’s private retirement schemes
What people want to know about the MPF system
Principal 600 launch an Asian Bond Fund

April 2013

A new Hong Kong retirement protection study includes universal pension
No changes at the top of MPFA
MPF fees, what are the government doing about them?
FATCA spawning a new generation of intergovernmental agreements, otherwise known as sons of FATCA
Financial secretary John Tsang and the problems of ageing
Malaysia’s Private Pension Schemes
Bank Consortium adds RMB Bond Funds to its MPF Products
INVESCO MPF Bond Fund – finding a way to get more information to MPF investors
A P.S. on the Poverty Commission

March 2013

The 2013 Hong Kong Budget
FATCA is on its way whether you like it or not
FATCA – Swiss Government sign an Intergovernmental Agreement
FATCA in a few words
Hong Kong Commentator David Webb on MPF…
…and Mike Rowse
New RMB and HKD Money Market Fund MPF Fund from BOC Prudential
SPDR Gold Shares Joins the long list of Approved Index-Tracking Collective Investment Schemes
Slight uptick In Reverse Mortgages, fall in number of Banks providing them

February 2013

MPF market shares, inflows and employee choice
The Poverty Commission
It’s official policy, MPF fees to come down
MPFA looking for new low cost fund choices by end of 2013, and consolidation and rationalisation of existing fund choices
FATCA regulations published, some easing up on retirement funds
What it means to be self employed
Financial literacy – a challenge for the MPFA
MPFA tidy up their “lower fund expense ratios” comparisons – just a little
Invesco introduce first ever RMB bond fund in MPF system

January 2013

MPF’S Investment Returns In 2012
Old Age Living Allowance gets the go-ahead
HSBC cut some MPF Fees by up to 10%, MPFA allow misunderstanding on Ernst & Young Report contents to continue
A reminder, what Ernst & Young recommended, what the MPFA announced, all on 26th November 2012
MPFA’s latest move to get MPF Fees down shows the dangers of relying on Fund Expense Ratios
An Open Letter to the Poverty Commission
Bond Credit Ratings
Malaysia’s Private Retirement Schemes, now closed to new entrants
FATCA, Irish sign up, where is Hong Kong?

December 2012

The MPFA’s Ernst & Young Report
MPF Performance, Why don’t the MPFA highlight it?
Same product, different price
FATCA, full steam ahead?
Commission on Poverty, Steering Committee on Population Policy
Where the Rule of Law Is avoided
Malaysia’s Private Retirement Schemes

November 2012

The MPFA’s reaction to the woes of MPF
Employee choice started on 1st November 2012 – a likely outcome
The Consumer Council drags MPF through the mire, subsequent press comment even worse
Why does the MPFA concentrate on fund expense ratios…
…and trustees?
The Commission on Poverty, 2012 version
Labour issues and an ageing population
Hong Kong’s Old Age Living Allowance
The Hong Kong Government and its retirement age
Malaysia’s Private Retirement Schemes
FATCA, add another year to the timetable
Citic Pacific insider dealing
BEA launch their new MPF Value Scheme

October 2012

Employee Choice from 1st November 2012
MPF crosses the line into too much regulation
Guidelines on Conduct Requirements for Registered MPF Intermediaries
MPF marketing material, MPF Performance, Assessment of Risk
Postscripts on Employee Choice
MPF Intermediaries, Insurance Industry easily the biggest and growing
FATCA developments, United Kingdom signs an agreement with the United States
Misleading reporting on Old Age Allowance
No change on the retirement age for Government employees
Hong Kong Mortgagae Corporation changes rules on Reverse Mortgages
MPFA makes recommendations on terminal illness, phased withdrawals, articles on www.thempfblog.com

September 2012

FATCA, hoping for some positive developments
Employee Choice, more information needed if it is to start on time
Mis-Selling
On Employee Choice, more instances of Mis-Selling emerging
MPF costs
Aggregating Preserved Accounts
Hong Kong’s Population Projections, the missing thousands
The new Remnimbi/Hong Kong Dollar Fund from Sun Life
BEA launch a new MPF product, The BEA (MPF) Value Scheme
Coordinating Healthcare and Pension Policies, a review of a recent ADB Paper

August 2012

A case for postponing Employee Choice if the members do not get fundamental information on fees
Time for a Review of CSSA, OAA And MPF
Universal Pensions
The MPFA’s Pamphlet on Employee Choice
Establishing what success means with Employee Choice
Membership and Contributions in MPF
Coming clean on Fees, some explanations needed
Hong Kong, a Tax Haven
And on FATCA
New Funds for BOC-Prudential’s Easy Choice MPF Product

July 2012

The U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – a serious matter
Employee choice, intermediaries
More questions than answers
MPF investment choices
Membership and contributions in MPF
The legislative council’s report on minibonds
…and its relevance to MPF

June 2012

Ernst and Young’s Study for the MPF Joint Industry Group
Arbitration and The Law
Hong Kong’s Financial Dispute Resolution Centre …
…and Training
Out Of Court Settlements and The Rule Of Law
MPF Documentation
Another source of information that appears closed to MPF members
MPF‘S Asian Bond Funds and their Investment Profiles
A closer look at AIA’s investments
…And China Life
Bank Consortium introduce Greater China and World Equity Funds…
…BEA Introduce Remnimbi and Hong Kong Dollar MPF Money Market Funds

May 2012

More Government in Hong Kong? What could that mean for MPF?
Legco Research on Pension Systems
Bond Funds…
…Dim Sum Bonds
QROPS – HMRC get tough, sell Guernsey, buy Malta?
Hong Kong’s QROPS

April 2012

Stretching Allowable Investments in MPF
Employee Choice Arrangements
Hong Kong’s New Chief Executive and his Manifesto
AMTD and its very high fees
Manulife cut MPF Fees, introduce New Asian Bond and Hang Seng Index Tracking Funds
Consultation on new Trust Law Proposals
HSBC sell their General Insurance Businesses

March 2012

Regulators
Politicians and the MPF
Central Policy Unit and The Elderly Commission
Reverse Mortgages in Hong Kong
International Labour Organisation – Global Employment Trends, Macau under scrutiny
MPF Express (2)
The Hong Kong Government updates its Pension Liabilities, biggest rise since Accrual Accounts established

February 2012

Public Views of MPF (1)- Dr. Pan Pey Chyou
Public Views of MPF (2)
MPFA’s Consultation Paper on the Withdrawal of Benefits in MPF (2)
Insurance Businesses for sale
MPFA’s Consultation Study on MPF Trustees’ Administration Costs
Risk Management Frameworks for Pension Funds
More On ECA, what the MPF regulations already include
Reviewing the MPF Fund Fact Sheet
Bank Of East Asia introduce those funds, and have some curious name changes, Principal file for new MPF funds

January 2012

2011’s Investment Returns
In the bleak midwinter
Legislation on MPF Intermediaries
Are the MPFA and the Government looking the wrong way?
MPFA’S consultation paper on the withdrawal of benefits in MPF
MPF system contemplating Remnimbi Bond Funds
Changing Pension Rules, UK style
BEA introduce new funds, three for the Industry Scheme and three for their main scheme
Principal reorganise their MPF funds, reduce fees and drop their MPF and ORSO US dollar savings funds

December 2011

Fund Expense Ratios – AMTD publish their numbers
Legco points of view – worth an answer
Hk$32 Billion in Assets, shouldn’t they be doing something more with all our money?
Housing in Hong Kong, first the good news…
…Now the grim
Towers Watson and the MPF.Express
Bank Consortium and Fidelity cut MPF fees…
…and Bank Consortium are changing the names of their
MPF Schemes and their funds

November 2011

Legco members want changes in MPF, long service and severance payments
The argument disappears for restricting member choice to members’ balances only
Hong Kong’s chief executive Donald Tsang gives his final policy address
What Donald Tsang said about universal protection and MPF
Why are the MPFA advocating early withdrawals from MPF? Two views
BEA have a triple rewards offer
Déjà vu, questions about the CPU once more

October 2011

Index Funds may have lower fees, but are they in the MPF Members’ interests?
HSBC put their non-life insurance businesses for sale
Investment Managers’ Risk Profile Questionnaires
The U.K.’S Workplace Retirement Income Commission
AIA-JF launch their new MPF funds, rename their MPF Products, RCM launch two new MPF funds
Hong Kong’s Double Taxation Agreements – Why are they so different

September 2011

MPFA’s Consultancy on Trustees’ Administration Costs
The role of a Ratings Agency
MPFA’s Annual Report 2010/11
Fund Expense Ratios
Name change, fees and new products From AIA-JF
Double Taxation Treaties
MPF, are the MPFA rewriting history?
Citic Pacific, insider trading prosecution

August 2011

The UK’s Workplace Retirement Income Reform Commission
Time for the MPFA to change their focus, away from Trustees and on to Members?
MPF Reform
Policy issues: early withdrawals under consideration and annuities
MPFA announce an independent study to identify ways to further simplify the MPF’s administrative processes
Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation’s Reverse Mortgages
UK Public Sector Pension Liabilities
AIA-JF Premium MPF Scheme has new MPF investment choices coming along, are these index funds the right approach?

July 2011

Minimum Levels for MPF Mandatory Contributions to change from 1st November 2011, and Maximum Levels from 1st June 2012
MPFA’s Anna Wu talks about universal retirement protection and fees
Minimum Wage
That UK and Hong Kong Double Taxation Agreement, some second thoughts from the UK government
Government Pressure to reduce MPF fees
Is there a relationship between new MPF Product introductions and fees?
BOCI-Prudential reduce fees selectively
RCM introduce new MPF investment products

June 2011

Is the MPFA protecting the investor?
Have MPF and CPF Inhibited Pension Developments? (2) –
A Singapore View
MPF, CPF Life
Bank Consortium replaces Legg Mason with Fidelity, Introduce JP Morgan
SFC and HKMA’s mystery shopping, no buyers
All sorts of fees, kickbacks and commissions
The MPF Bill on Bankruptcy, Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2011, now an Ordinance (2)

May 2011

Who would want to be running an MPF business?
The MPF bill on bankruptcy, Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2011
MPFA’s ten year investment performance review
Procommons’ views
The economist on pensions
Have MPF and CPF inhibited pension developments?
The trials and tribulations of “know your client”

April 2011
The universal pension “debate”
The Hong Kong Government updates its pension liabilities
Fee structures in MPF
More on fees
A final thought on fees
Risk and MPF
MPF and your iPhone
MPFA appointments
MassMutual to launch a new fund, adopting daily pricing
Asian passport, more developments

March 2011
Ideas of changes to the MPF monthly cap on mandatory contributions
Budget time approached…
…Budget Shock, a new $6,000 MPF Injection… but a week later is cancelled!
Hong Kong’s Sovereign Wealth
Inflation
MPF fees, some reductions, some permanent, some temporary, HSBC, Hang Seng, AXA And AIA-JF
MPF fees and costs
Asian Passport, Australians driving the process

February 2011
MPF from afar
MPF’s lump sum, its greatest mistake
MPF’s 30 day and sixty day rules, what do these achieve?
MPF fees
MPFA’s investment restrictions
The Retirement Protection Model and Legco
SFC’s Consultation Paper on Regulating Credit Rating Agencies

January 2011
Pension funds’ risks, the perils of defined contribution
The issues surrounding MPF
Hong Kong mortgage corporation plan for reverse mortgages in 2011
Reverse mortgages – what the Bauhinia Foundation really wrote
Business and professional’s December 2008 report asset rich, income poor? Is reverse mortgage a solution? An earlier report on reverse mortgages
Results of the government’s consultation on its financial dispute resolution centre and investor education council proposals
AXA change the names of their schemes, AIA-JF introduce their Fidelity funds

December 2010
MPF’s tenth birthday, few cheers, few best wishes
New MPF Investment Products from Manulife, new MPF Schemes from HSBC and Hang Seng
MPF Portability, Employee Choice Arrangements
MPF and Bankruptcy, new legislation proposed
MPF and Bankruptcy, the Ng Shiu Fan Case, the Appeal
Severance Payments and Long Service Payments
Hong Kong’s Double Taxation Agreements, the UK One

November 2010
MPF and Bankruptcy
Portability, delayed, to be reworked or abandoned?
Why Do Legco and the Public have to wait so long?
The Regulatory Conundrum, at what stage do you have too much Regulation?
Another Consultation on Health Reform in Hong Kong
Massachusetts and their Medical Pool
Changing the Benefit Ages
Donald Tsang’s 2010 Policy Address
The Elderly Commission
AXA change their MPF recordkeeping and administration arrangements, AIA-JF set a date for three new Fidelity Funds, Principal launch a Hang Seng Index Tracking Fund

September 2010
Portability
Taking advantage of MPF’s 10th Birthday
Census and Statistics Department publishes its Thirty Year Population Projections
United Kingdom Population Projections
Equity Release and Reverse Mortgages in Hong Kong
MPF Rights of Part Time Employees
Mychoice and My Choice
New investment products from Principal, Bank of Communications, new name - Ageas Trustees (HK) Limited

August 2010
MPFA, Being A Regulator, Portability Rules
Australia’s Superannuation Review, The Cooper Review
Types of funds in MPF
Constructive taxation of pensions and occupational savings
Hong Kong’s Securities And Futures Commission consults on regulating Credit Rating Agencies
MPF and the iPhone

July 2010
Australia’s Superannuation Review, The Cooper Report
Set Up Costs at My Choice and AMTD
More on the My Choice implications
Double Taxation Treaties, Hong Kong getting busier,
new agreements include one with the United Kingdom
Company Restructuring
Pension Ages, France and Britain change the benefit ages
The Revised Unit Trust Code
The Fortis MPF product finally dies

June 2010
MPF, the overly complicated system
2010, a year where pensions became the news, briefly
Raising benefit ages, a knee jerk reaction
The sobering side of things
May, a month about markets
BOCI’s new MPF product, radical pricing,
scary consequences?
Prudential abandons bid for AIA
And those new RCM funds

May 2010
Preserved accounts, a question in Legco
MPF savings, how to spend those Hong Kong reserves
Injections into MPF
Portability
Portability – how long will it take to move your balances?
So, if you’ve chosen a fund to invest in, is there a better way to invest in it?
Communication, fund commentaries
Changes from BOCI-PRU, RCM introducing two new MPF funds, maybe

April 2010
New investment choices in MPF, or the lack thereof
On index linked
The curious case of the AMTD MPF scheme
Rule of law, financial dispute resolution centre
Double taxation treaties, Hong Kong gets busy
The Hong Kong government updates its pension liabilities
The shadow of the Gaines-Cooper tax case
MPFA appointments
Broadcasting on the challenges of Hong Kong’s growing elderly population

March 2010
AIA, Prudential… severance payments and long service payments
Consultations aplenty
Rule of law
Proposed establishment of an Investor Education Council and a Financial Dispute Resolution Centre
Singapore’s moneySENSE
Singapore’s Council for the Third Age
The 2010 Hong Kong budget…
… revisiting population projections
Medical insurance
Pension fees and costs in Israel

February 2010
Research into retirement matters
University of Hong Kong’s consultancy study for the elderly commission on residential care services for the elderly
Mandatory provident schemes authority’s policy development and research department - approaches to measurement of retirement costs
Evaluation of MPF fund performance, a report commissioned by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority
So, do passive funds do better than active funds? – the MPF experience
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and its mystery shopping programme
IPOs in Hong Kong

January 2010
MPF, part of a very complex social system
On markets: ten months into the recovery
A new Bauhinia Think Tank paper, employment and retirement ages
MPFA’s issues
An evolving MPF system
Portability
Portability, a list of questions
Insurance industry and disclosing commissions
Sun Life, Bank of East Asia launch their new MPF funds

December 2009
Stamp duty discussion highlights extraordinary government powers
MPF’s ninth birthday – an even bigger change to MPF on the horizon?
Voluntary contributions and portability
Bonds and rating agencies
Revisiting the sad case of Ng Shiu-fan and the lack of follow-up action
Control of MPF provider Taifook changes hands
RCM to move their MPF trustee and administration arrangements to bank consortium on 1st January 2010
More MPF constituent fund choices on the way from Bank of East Asia’s schemes
Macau’s central provident fund system
QROPS revisited
Medical insurance and a word on the UK’s pension tracing service

November 2009
Hong Kong government abandon plans for mandatory medical savings
MPF portability issues
Hong Kong’s chief executive’s policy speech for October 2009, sudden dip in commitment to policy for an ageing population
Hong Kong’s MPF demographics
Elder academy development foundation
Voluntary accounts in a mandatory system…
…voluntary accounts multiplying
Macau’s new retirement savings system

October 2009
2008 financial history is already being rewritten
Portability – explaining the legislative attitude
Towards voluntary contributions…
…and fees…
…and on MPF commissions
Retirement ages and benefits ages
The correlation between retirement ages and longevity
SFC not quite sure what mystery shopping is all about
Hong Kong’s biggest insider trading information case, so far
Lehman anniversary comments
Bank of Communications add a Hong Kong index tracking fund to their MPF product, AIA add funds to their ORSO product

September 2009
Employee choice, trustees and intermediaries
Tax rules and vesting scales in MPF…
…similar issues in ORSO
Trust ordinance consultation
The Hong Kong government updates its pension liabilities
Major MPF consultation next year?
New MPF constituent funds at Bank Consortium and HSBC
More MPF tales that just shouldn’t be

August 2009
MPF legislation gets through Legco, member choice on the way
Pension concerns in Britain
Learning a lesson from the HK$6,000 injection
Trustee ordinance - difficult decisions for the government
The trustee ordinance - consultation paper
MPFA issuing new guidelines
AMTD’s MPF scheme begins life

July 2009
Now is the time for Hong Kong’s regulators to take some action
Hong Kong government’s 2000 pension decision comes back as an issue
MPF, coming up to its ninth birthday
Employee choice in the MPF system
Fidelity closes its MPF multimanager fund choices
MPFA jump the gun on capital preservation and conservative funds, confusing everybody along the way
Manulife cut MPF fees
Postscript on the behaviour of the elderly

June 2009
Three months of rising markets
A great opportunity!
MPFA looking for trustees to take on industry schemes
 AMTD enter the MPF market
The Hong Kong government changes its mind
Capital preservation funds becoming conservative
Help the aged, age concern point out the ageing realities
Pension buy-outs, not the risk free decisions they looked at the time…
…longevity swaps, would you be happy if an investment bank was part guaranteeing your pension?

May 2009
MPF employee choice legislation on its way
Challenges of a growing elderly population – they haven’t gone away…
Understanding MPF benefit statements
Employers cutting costs, employers cutting defined contributions
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority publish their reports on Lehman Bros minibonds (2)
A poor banking promotional leaflet
Investing MPF assets in India – MPFA call for proof of experience

April 2009
Who is there to explain or even defend the MPF system?
FASB changes fair value accounting rules…
…on markets
Risks in the MPF system
The curious case of the Principal US dollar savings fund
Business and Professionals Federation publish their reverse mortgage report, “asset rich, income poor, is reverse mortgage a solution?”
Unfair dismissal and pensions

March 2009
MPF – eight years of poor returns
On markets, banks and protectionism
The June 2008 bankruptcy and ORSO court case, no visible follow up from the MPFA
The Hong Kong budget 2008 – before…
…and the budget itself
That HK$6,000 injection
More regulatory concerns – single page selling documents, misleading artwork, use of logos
MPFA about to issue new and revised MPF guidelines
Renaming capital preservation funds
Macau, slowly slowly
Indian pension market
And finally the MPFA get a chairman

February 2009
Regulatory issues
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission And The Hong Kong Monetary Authority publish their reports on Lehman bros minibonds
Minibond prospectuses
Implications for the MPF system
On whether MPF investment managers have the right qualifications and experience
Capital preservation funds
MPF in the bear market – problems for employers on paying their severance and long service obligations, that new ten day rule on contributions

January 2009
100 Years of State Pension in the United Kingdom, not a great environment in which to celebrate a birthday
2008… it was a very bad year
The SFC’s 5th and 30th December Circulars, applying them to the MPF system
Refunding MPF contributions as a way stimulating the economy?
From The United Kingdom - the elderly having a voice – enter Dame Joan Bakewell
MPF investment restrictions – would the Investment Managers open themselves up to the MPFA’s scrutiny?
Name Changes, JF and JP Morgan, Fidelity and FIL, Lehman and Barclays World Bond Index
Indian pension market opening up… slowly

December 2008
The risks in defined contribution
What governments are doing about it
On MPF balances, defined benefit and pension liabilities…
…and the impact on MPF
The HK$6,000 MPF injection – data privacy issues
Appeal to get uniform inflation increases in UK pensions fails again
MPFA still hiring
Trials and tribulations of growing old
Retirerich income plan – a bancassurance product aimed at regular savings
India – finally some developments

November 2008
No assurances from the MPFA
And on member choice and the HK$6,000 Injection
On markets
MPF Court case makes unfortunate headlines
Hong Kong Policy Address 2008 – the elderly are becoming the ignored and forgotten elements of our society…
…But within two weeks Donald Tsang changes his mind about the Old Age Allowance!
MPF policy in the Policy Address
Tin Shui Wai, a new haven for the Old?
Fidelity’s SaveEasy Funds
Bank Consortium’s SaveEasy Funds, two new Fidelity managed funds in their MPF product
Medical Costs, an Atlas of Mortality
An MPF oddity

October 2008
On Markets
The elderly and their voting preferences
Provident fund balances and bankruptcy
European Population Projections
The MPF HK$6,000 injection
Fidelity and Bank Consortium Target style funds on their way…
…And Bank Consortium add Investment funds to their ORSO Product, Standard Chartered drop a Schroders fund from theirs

September 2008
Changing face of Britain…
…Equity release and pension unlocking…
…A pensions scandal in the making
MPF and that HK$6,000 injection – raw deal for the self employed
The MPFA Annual Report
Macau’s new labour law, and retirement protection
On new ways to value UK pension liabilities

August 2008
On the self employed and that HK$6,000 injection…
…And a postscript on what the legislation really means
What happened to the HK$30,000 idea on mandatory contributions
On Hong Kong people wanting later retirement…
… And in Britain, the Department of Work and Pensions’ Age Positive Initiative
Another Bank Consortium Survey
Contributions and embarrassing MPF stories
Life Trust and their annuity/drawdown approach to old age
And finally, a thought on education

July 2008
MPF – in danger of failing?
The Oxford Institute of Ageing, Professor Sarah Harper and HSBC’s Global Survey on Retirement
Press reaction to Professor Harper
LEGCO still puzzled as to why the MPF member choice proposal has restrictions
On expanding the markets that MPF savings can be invested in
MPF legislation paves the way for that HK$6,000 injection
Complacency on the adequacy of MPF
Bank of Communications launch new fund, Jones Lang LaSalle soon to close down their MPF Employer Sponsored Scheme
…And in the United Kingdom, HSBC join in as a distributor of a different type of annuity approach

June 2008
 Employee Choice in MPF – Legco’s Financial Services Panel meets on 30th June
Caring for the elderly, a Bureaucracy that doesn’t seem to care?
Just what is a Hong Kong investment?
Annuities in Hong Kong
And from the SFC’s Website
Civil Servants get pay rise, a big impact on the Government’s Pension Liabilities
What are the Trustee’s Responsibilities on a member’s MPF Investment?
Retirees in the UK and the way they have to sell their homes to get Nursing Home Care
Investment restrictions in MPF, still a move to ease them
Hong Kong’s Healthcare Financing Reform – close to the Consultation Closing Date
Addendum - what Legco said first time around about Employee Choice

May 2008
On Medical Matters
Where is the Debate on the Structure of MPF
The MPFA and HK$6,000 Injection
Hong Kong Taxation
Sing Pao, what happened next
Category D Pensions in the United Kingdom
Pensions and industrial unrest
PCI MPF Scheme changes its name to reflect the Fortis involvement…
…Manulife introduce a healthcare fund in MPF and beef up their ORSO product
And finally, a maker-checker

April 2008
Your Health, Your Life, The Future Financing of Hong Kong’s Health System
How hard is it to give MPF members HK$6,000?
Hong Kong Government’s pension liability – momentarily in the public eye
MPF Funds – What’s in a Name? What is and isn’t a Hong Kong Fund
Getting Your MPF Balances before retirement
Sing Tao’s lack of MPF contributions may lead to its winding up
Hang Seng introduce Simple Choice, Sun Life doubles its MPF Fund Choice
 
March 2008
Probably the most rewarding web site you might visit
The 2008 Hong Kong Budget
Healthcare reform : consultation is on its way
MPF market shares
MPF fees: Bank Consortium announce fee cuts
Déjà Vu – another MPF provider talks about prospective returns
401(K) Court Case – workers can sue in certain circumstances
Increasing longevity in the UK – it’s getting official

February 2008
HSBC launch a new MPF product –SimpleChoice
New MPF legislation
On markets (1)
On markets (2)
The Hong Kong government updates its pension liabilities
Pensions and interest rates
MPFA still working on a big one
More on transferring pension liabilities to insurance companies
Bank Consortium add two more fund choices to their main plan but not to the industry plan

January 2008
HKRSA hosts its China Pension and Social Security Conference
Pension news from the United Kingdom…
…Companies moving their closed pension schemes to insurance companies…
…On getting a better pension because you may be unhealthy…
…On changing demographics…
…On closing down pension schemes…
…and on member choice
Owning stocks you don’t like
On markets
MPFA still pursuing housing allowance cases
MPFA publish new guidelines
Principal merge B300 Scheme into other schemes
ING cut MPF fees

December 2007
MPF, another birthday
Hong Kong’s Pension Policy
QROPS - Qualified Recognised Overseas Retirement Schemes
Debt ratings and MPF
MPFA commission a paper on target date funds
Fees – Standard Chartered Cuts MPF Fees, AIA-JF And Bank Consortium have lower fees on new investment products
Radio days
Macau starting a provident fund?
Oldest pension arrangement?

November 2007
What looks a cosy cartel may well be one
Hong Kong census and statistics department publishes its projected mid-year population by age group and sex, 2007-2036
Hong Kong’s chief executive makes some passing comments on the elderly
Markets – coincidences, or being casual about history?
On the securities that should be allowed in MPF
Three ideas for MPF legislation
Bank Consortium’s MPF attitudes survey
The MPFA’s web page
Fee reductions at Fidelity, New MPF fund choices at BOCI-Prudential and China Life

October 2007
MPF: be careful not to turn the fees and member choice debates into a crisis
Some of the major MPF providers cut their fees
Whither, or wither the MPF industry schemes
Changes in the HSBC MPF products – preparing the way for third party investment managers
Investment returns in September…
MPFA attending conferences
Invesco introduces a new fund to its MPF range

September 2007
Investment returns in August…
Pension reform – thinking about what you’re doing
MPFA’s benefit statement consultation
The MPFA Annual Report
Fees and expanding employee choice
Fees – What Frederick Ma said to Legco in June

August 2007
MPF Matters, the fee issue
Fees, fees, fees
That Hong Kong Economic Times article
Fee disagreements becoming public
The press coverage gets more interesting – the Hong Kong Standard
MPFA's fee table
The Consumer Council report
Hong Kong's Investment Funds Association conducting its own public consultation
A new MPF fund from Principal, Fortis is a new trustee name in MPF, Kingsway name disappears, JF add to their ORSO range
India's Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority
Retirement ages, benefits ages

July 2007
Health issues come to the fore
Employee choice in MPF…
…On widening the choice within MPF products
When does a regulator show his teeth? The Sea Containers case
India's Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority, some developments
That Asian Investor MPF Master Trust Award that Bank of East Asia received, some more details
New MPF legislation: Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2007

June 2007
MPF – Will Employees be able to choose?
MPFA has a new Chairman…
…The new Chairman's thoughts on MPF…
… What about Fees…
…How could Employee Choice evolve…
…So what could Employee Choice mean?
Hong Kong's Insurance Authority may become independent
The Commission on Poverty is wound up
Bank of East Asia wins an MPF award
Hong Kong's plastic bag tax
Hong Kong Government raises salaries by close to 5%

May 2007
The tax issueThe basics of taxation
Where do pensions fit in?
Taxation – in danger of being archaic
Starting with a clean sheet
Challenging convention
And the impact on Hong Kong and MPF
Could Hong Kong ever be an offshore pension centre?
UK taxpayers less likely to be successful in hiding income from overseas bank accounts

April 2007
MPF market share report
Complaints hotlines, interesting proposals
The Hong Kong Government publishes its accrual-based accounts and updates its pension liabilities…
… The Hong Kong Government’s pension costs
Those Hang Seng Index changes, is anybody, should anybody be taking any notice?
AXA closes down the old MLC ORSO Plan, Standard Chartered drop Merrill Lynch funds from their MPF Scheme, MassMutual add five new all equity MPF funds

March 2007
Hong Kong’s Population – Slowing Growth, Ageing Steadily
UK Civil Service Pensions…
…and the British Government’s rules on National Insurance contributions
That Reputex speech for the Hong Kong Retirement Schemes Association
Hang Seng Index changes – again
David Webb’s views on MPF #2
David Webb on performance and costs…
…David Webb on increasing the mandatory contributions and demographics…
…and David Webb on the “bloated” MPFA
An Indian perspective
Medical savings schemes
Trustee Ordinance
New ORSO fund choices from AIA
 
February 2007
MPF’s limitations
MPF provider changes hands _ Kingsway Fund Management acquired by Tang Fook Securities
Trust Act, interest builds in changing the law
MPFA activity, Guidelines, Fund Expense Ratios
On Taxation
About to raise the contributions limit on MPF mandatory contributions
For those who believe the boom will go on forever
The Bauhinia Foundation: Review of HK’s Socio-Economic Progress: A Quantitative Assessment – and some clear pictures of current problems faced by the elderly

January 2007
MPF – Time for an Amnesty
2006 Fund Performance: It was a very good year
The Development of China’s Undertakings for the Aged
What is the Hong Kong Government doing about the Elderly?
…And the Commission on Poverty?
Raising the Ceiling on Monthly MPF Contributions
Five Things the MPF System could do without - #1 The MPF Schemes Compensation Fund
White Paper confirms ideas on UK Pension Reform
Principal’s smallest MPF fund merges into another, AXA and Bank of East Asia introduce new MPF funds, Principal add to their ORSO Range

December 2006
MPF’s Sixth Birthday, Four Years of Bull Markets
NSSF and Partial Funding Funds
Another method of Public Consultation?
Keeping Tax Systems Simple: The World Bank/ PricewaterhouseCoopers Report, and more on Hong Kong’s GST
Bonds again
MPF orphan accounts
Derivative consequences
India: the PFRDA saga continues
Pension tales, San Diego…
…Pension tales, Lahore

November 2006
Pension Reform – those Systemic and Parametric Reforms
Inland Revenue publish up to date Practice Notes on Retirement Funds
MPFA in favour of employees choosing their own schemes… kinda, sorta, maybe
MPF market shares
MPF and the top ten holdings
MPF and Section 90 Requests
New MPF investment choices
One exchange rate, two currencies
What Legco said about MPF

October 2006
India: The Pension Fund Regulatory and Regulatory Authority
Chinese pension scandals
Fund Expense Ratios – the first numbers
The pace of legislation
MPF - what will be added to the list of allowable investments
MPF trends continue – Merging MPF Schemes and adding to Fund Choice
GST – Blame it on the old folk
2033, the commonly occurring date in the old age debate
SFC’s Report - Fund Management Activities Survey 2005…
… 2005 Singapore Asset Management Industry Survey
UK Public Pension Liabilities
For those paying UK National Insurance

September 2006
Asian Pension Reform
Fund Expense Ratios in MPF
Hang Seng Index changes
MPFA’S Annual Report - some highlights
MPF statistics, again
The MPF Schemes Compensation Fund
ORSO and MPF product changes
Hong Kong folk retiring in Guangdong and Fujian
Accounting standards and minimum pension funding requirements
Goods and Services Tax and the “problem of the elderly”
MPFA’s public consultation proposals to improve the content of Annual Benefit Statements

August 2006
 SEC lose a battle in their push to regulate Hedge Funds
MPF Fund Expense Ratios: be careful of the rush
The MPFA way of presenting MPF Performance
MPF Statistics and Voluntary Contributions…
… And ORSO Statistics
Odd Statistics from the MPFA
United Kingdom news : Pensions…
… The British Airways Pension Scheme…
… And Equity Release
Name changes at MLC, plans to merge Allianz MPF Plans

July 2006
Confusion in the world of pension reform, differences between the benefit and the retirement ages
The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2006
Fees become an issue; beware, MPF providers may not see MPF as a core business
MPFA takes MPF member’s annual statements into public consultation (2)
Singapore Trust Companies Act – could it happen in Hong Kong?
The myth of sickly senior citizens
UK pension reform: the Labour government publish their white paper. The MPFA’S new look web site

June 2006
The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2006
Population pressures in Hong Kong…
…The U.S. Census Bureau’s View of Hong Kong’s Population
The Hong Kong Government’s Sustainable Development Council and the Commission on Strategic Development
MPFA’s Public Consultation on Member’s Annual Statements
Invesco’s move to Bank Consortium as it shrinks its Constituent Fund Range, Legg Mason’s name arrives
Taxation in MPF, a reader’s concern; MPF balances in the CSSA Assessments; Housing Allowances, when Employers transfer from one MPF product to another, trying to transfer a Preserved Account Balance
MPF Constituent Fund Prices – Do They Need To Be In The Newspapers? (2)

May 2006
Hong Kong, What role could it have in regional Retirement Savings
MPFA’s Darren McShane makes some points
MPF’s Fund Expense Ratios, The Auditor’s involvement
Beware Of Instant Responses To MPF Fund Expense Ratios
In praise of MPF Products: The Kingsway MPF Master Trust…
…Hong Kong Equity Funds
Hong Kong Government’s Central Policy Unit awaiting those reports on Hong Kong’s future
MPF name changes in the Allianz stable, New Alliance Scheme finally closed down, MPFA issue updated guidelines
Pension Reform in The United Kingdom
Special Coverage: Singapore’s Trust Companies Act, 2005

April 2006
MPF’s image problems, high fees and a lack of understanding, what is the MPFA’s role?
Fund Expense Ratios; think of a number, any number
Opening Voluntary MPF Accounts when you are not already a member
Addressing MPF’s Problems: how to solve the problem of products with limited choices
Hong Kong Government’s Pension Costs
The MPFA deciding what investments could be allowed in MPF
Fidelity’s Multimanager approach…
…And AIA-JF add a Green Fund
Question Time at Legco and other MPF matters that involve the Legislative Council
And on the tendering process for MPF Products from the Hong Kong Government

March 2006
World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group look at the World Bank’s record on pension reform…
…and The World Bank assemble all you may ever need to know about Non Financial Defined Contribution Schemes
MPFA slip in new MPF Investment Legislation to Legco, likely to be law by Summer...
…and what would or should the MPFA include in its “Permissible Other Securities”
AXA acquire National Australia Bank’s MLC Insurance Businesses in Hong Kong and Indonesia...
.... Eagle Star and Zurich MPF Products disappear into Principal
The MPF advertising continues, what does “Add Value To Your Future” mean?
The HSBC approach to voluntary savings for MPF preserved account holders
MPF constituent fund prices – do they need to be in the newspapers?
Singapore’s Central Provident Fund brings in new rules on admitting new funds
Poverty in Hong Kong
MPFA continue their housing allowance prosecutions

February 2006
The Hong Kong Government publishes its Second Accrual-Based Accounts and updates its Pension Liabilities
Fidelity Launch Multimanager elements in their MPF and ORSO Products…
…And some name changes at Dexia
MPFA looking for a new Head (External Affairs)
MPFA and MPF Statistics, a little less information these days
Valuation challenges
Should the MPF System widen its range of allowable assets?
Health Care costs and the gap between the rich and poor
Hong Kong Government’s Commission on Poverty
More on the dependence on very few Consultants