Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority chair marks MPF 25th anniversary and highlights eMPF-driven fee reductions

Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) Chair Ayesha Macpherson Lau published a blog post marking the 25th anniversary of the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) System, highlighting its expanded retirement coverage and growth in assets and investment returns. The post cited MPF total assets of 1.5 trillion and a year-to-date net investment return of about 15%, and noted that workforce coverage has risen from around one-third before MPF to nearly 100% under the system. By end-October, all MPF fund types had recorded positive annualised investment returns since inception, with Equity Funds and Mixed Assets Funds (around 80% of total MPF assets) averaging cumulative net returns of 240% and 200%, or annualised net returns of 5% and 4.5%, compared with 1.8% annualised inflation over the same period. Voluntary contributions rose to 25% of total contributions in the first three quarters of the year, nearly double the proportion a decade earlier. The post also pointed to the Default Investment Strategy (DIS) launched in 2017, including an average annualised net return of 6.9% for its Core Accumulation Fund since launch, and linked further fee reductions to the rollout of the eMPF Platform, which began operations in June 2024 and caps administration fees for schemes on the platform at 37 basis points (0.37%); over 10 million member accounts, more than 90% of all accounts, are expected to benefit. Looking ahead, the MPFA flagged initiatives including implementing MPF Full Portability, promoting voluntary contributions, raising the minimum and maximum relevant income levels for MPF contributions, and enhancing the DIS, including further DIS fee-cap reductions as schemes migrate to eMPF.