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HKSAR Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority


MPFSA reveals result of review of min/max income levels for MPF
HK Government, 16-Feb-2011
7 months after the review was submitted to Government, it is revealed that the recommendations are HK$5.5k (up from $5k) for the minimum relevant income below which, employees would not contribute and $30k cap (up from $20k) above which, the Government would stop interfering in your personal choice. The Government did not adopt the 2008 recommendations - probably noting how unpopular the MPF scheme is.
Minimum wage will reduce some incomes
The road to intervention is paved with unintended consequences. We look at the conflict between the Minimum Wage and the MPF, resulting in some workers receiving less take-home pay and others having very little work incentive beyond 178.5 paid hours per month. We propose adjustments to the MPF threshold and contribution basis for low-income workers to address this. (2-Jan-2011)

Government backtracks on MPF employee choice
HK Government, 30-Sep-2010
Comment: intermediaries are already regulated by the HKMA, SFC and insurance self-regulatory bodies, and employees who change jobs can already choose their own providers, so the sudden interest in better regulation is no excuse for not extending that choice to employees, allowing them to choose their own fund providers without changing jobs.
The Post Office Investment Fund
Following yesterday's Audit Commission report on Hongkong Post, we look at the potential closure of rural post offices, removal of its mail monopoly and universal service obligation, and its cash-rich balance sheet and prime property. We also discuss the Government's tendency to stash pots of money away in different bodies rather than pass recurrent spending through the budget and the Legislative Council and manage its liquid funds centrally. (22-Apr-2010)

Henry Fan takes leave from Executive Council and MPFA during CITIC Pacific investigation
HK Government, 24-Oct-2008
Comment: What about his other public positions? He chairs the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service and the Advisory Committee on Admission of Quality Migrants and Professionals. He is a member of the Standing Committee on Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service, the Advisory Committee on Post-office Employment for Former Chief Executives and Politically Appointed Officials, and the HKMA's Exchange Fund Advisory Committee.

Lessons from Lehman Minibonds
Webb-site.com looks beyond the Lehman minibonds fiasco and proposes three steps to reform the regulatory system for the sale of financial products. Without such reforms, there is a risk of either repeated crises or an outright ban on the sale of such products. Tell us what you think in our opinion poll. (20-Oct-2008)

MPF Part 3: The Bloated Regulator
MPF's regulator, the MPFA, was grossly overcapitalised at inception and has been waiving the annual registration fee it should be charging to trustees, thereby subsidising the industry at almost HK$200m per year. This fee should be collected to cover its costs, and the MPFA should return $5,000m of surplus capital to the Government. (11-Feb-2007)
MPF Part 2: Stop the Increase
We call on the Government to stop the proposed increase in MPF contributions, which we estimate will cost HK$4.24bn per year. We renew our call to abolish the MPF and return economic freedom to the people. As more capital gets trapped in MPF funds, demands to withdraw it for urgent needs will become more frequent. And is Donald Tsang planning a Mandatory Medical Savings scheme? (11-Feb-2007)
MPF Part 1: What it Costs You
In Part 1 of our new MPF series, we look at the frightening first disclosures of expense ratios for MPF funds, and how this will crush the performance of the money trapped in the MPF schemes relative to the markets they invest in. (11-Feb-2007)
Scrap the MPF
We find that a typical Mandatory Provident Fund is running an expense ratio of about 2.0% per year, or about 15 times that of an exchange-traded index fund. Over 40 years, as much as 55% of today's capital and returns will be eaten up by MPF expenses. And all this for a compulsory savings scheme which is fatally flawed by the lump-sum payout. We call on the Government to return personal savings to the free market. (23-Jun-2005)
Circular TraHK
In an extraordinary move, the Government has said that its Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority will invest part of its operating funds and compensation fund in the TraHK. This Government's blatant attempt to underwrite its own issue represents the next step on a slippery slope of Government fiddling with the markets. Who will invest next - the Airport Authority, Water Authority, or Hongkong Post? (28-Oct-1999)

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