The Pension Schemes Association and Ernst & Young Collaborate on Groundbreaking Thought Leadership Paper: "The Digitalisation Revolution: Transforming the Future of the MPF Industry"   Hong Kong – The Pension Schemes Association (PSA) today announces the release of a new thought leadership paper titled "The Digitalisation Revolution: Transforming the Future of the MPF Industry." This report, developed in collaboration with Ernst & Young Advisory Services Limited (EY), explores the transformative role of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), in reshaping the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) landscape and enhancing retirement planning for Hong Kong citizens.   Since the MPF’s inception in 2000, it has played a pivotal role in enhancing the financial security and well-being of Hong Kong’s citizens. While significant progress has been made, the PSA's latest publication identifies a growing demand for more information, education (including financial guidance and advice), and personalisation in MPF services. The report offers forward-looking insights into how AI and other digital technologies can help bridge these gaps and meet the evolving needs of members.   Key Findings of the Paper:   The Need for Change: A considerable portion of Hong Kong’s population remains financially underprepared for retirement. This could lead to a shortfall in desired living standards during retirement, emphasising the need for comprehensive and proactive solutions. The paper advocates for enhanced member education and the adoption of self-service tools to empower individuals to take greater control of their retirement futures. AI’s Role in Addressing Market Challenges: The report highlights how AI, including large language models (LLMs), can provide innovative solutions across various areas such as investment advisory, compliance, customer engagement, and operational efficiency. AI-powered tools are projected to improve member satisfaction, reduce costs, and strengthen governance in the MPF sector. AI-Powered Robo-Advisory for Personalised Planning: Robo-advisory, already a well-established tool in wealth management, is gaining traction in the MPF space. It offers automated portfolio management and tailored investment strategies, delivering personalised retirement planning for MPF members. The report outlines how this trend is growing in Hong Kong and beyond.        While the report acknowledges certain risks and challenges associated with AI implementation, it ultimately concludes that the future of AI in the MPF industry is promising. There are significant opportunities for industry participants and members to benefit from a more digital, efficient, and personalised approach to retirement planning.   About the Pension Schemes Association (PSA): The PSA is the most prominent MPF sponsor association in the industry, acting as a bridge among stakeholders to ensure that Hong Kong’s MPF system meets both public and industry needs. The PSA also serves as a consultative body, liaising with policymakers and regulatory bodies on matters related to the development of the MPF system.   About Ernst & Young Advisory Services Limited (EY): EY exists to build a better working world, creating long-term value for clients, people, and society, and fostering trust in capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, EY teams in over 150 countries provide assurance and help clients grow, transform, and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax, and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to deliver new answers for the world’s most complex issues.   This press release is issued by Pension Schemes Association (PSA). For enquiries, please contact the PSA Secretary at admin@pensionschemes.org   Click here to download PDF file

PSA and EY in Partnership to deliver Thought Leadership on the eMPF Platform Initiative in Hong Kong Hong Kong – The Pension Schemes Association (“PSA”) and Ernst & Young (“EY”) have collaborated to develop a thought leadership paper, that is set to be released today. The publication is positioned to provide valuable insights on the upcoming eMPF Platform initiative. The PSA and EY are joining forces to provide clarity and insights to the general public on the eMPF Platform initiative, which is a revolutionary move towards establishing a common electronic platform that will streamline, standardise, and automate the current MPF scheme administration processes. The eMPF Platform will reshape the MPF ecosystem by enhancing operational and cost efficiency. The Platform's streamlined workflow will result in significant time and cost savings for MPF members and employers. The first thought leadership will bring to the surface the expected changes for MPF members and employers and discuss the implications of the eMPF Platform's future operations, with the goal to bring clarity to MPF members (including different types of MPF account holders) and employers on how they can prepare for the eMPF Platform's future operations. The collaboration between PSA and EY will provide a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the eMPF Platform's impact on the MPF industry in Hong Kong. The publication will first cover the general market anticipation towards the eMPF Platform implementation and look into other geographies as well as their subsequent transformations as an introduction; followed by a deep dive into the expected changes in the user journeys of MPF members and employers, benefits for them, anticipated implications and ways for the general public to prepare for the operationalisation of the eMPF Platform. The eMPF Platform is approaching its milestone stage of operation, with the target to begin its phased onboarding of MPF schemes from Q2 2024, with a full roll-out completed by 2025. To ensure a smooth transition into the future state, it is critical for MPF members and employers to be aware of the implementation approach, the upcoming changes and implications for anticipated users. The introduction of the eMPF Platform is poised to revolutionise the MPF industry in Hong Kong by providing a range of benefits to its users. These advantages include enhanced convenience for MPF members to manage their MPF funds, cost savings for both MPF members and employers and centralised information on MPF-related matters. For stakeholders and individuals seeking more insights on the eMPF Platform, relevant information can be found on the PSA website.   About PSA Pension Schemes Association (“PSA”) was established in February 2018 with six founding partners. As the most prominent MPF sponsor association in the industry, PSA assumes the bridging role among stakeholders as to ensure the MPF system in Hong Kong can fulfil public and industry interests. In addition, PSA acts as a consultative body in liaising with relevant policy makers and regulatory bodies on matters related to the development of the MPF system. PSA also aims to enhance the trust and confidence in the MPF industry by partnering with industry stakeholders to cultivate public awareness of MPF. Currently PSA is operating by the following founding corporation partners (in alphabetical order): AIA Company Limited FIL Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited Manulife (International) Limited Sun Life Hong Kong Limited   About EY EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.   About eMPF Platform project In 2018, the Government entrusted the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (“MPFA”) to design, build and operate the eMPF Platform, with a view to integrating all MPF scheme administration processes currently decentralised among different MPF trustees into a centralised digital platform. The eMPF Platform will be operated as a public utility, on a not-for-profit and cost-recovery basis, through charging fees on trustees for the scheme administration services it provides. By standardising, streamlining and automating all MPF-related scheme administration processes, the Platform will displace the current paper-based and manual handling processes, thereby achieving high-efficiency user experience and further reduction of administration cost. The passage of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2021 by the Legislative Council in October2021 provided the legal basis to facilitate the development and implementation of the eMPF Platform project and stipulated the “straight pass-on” requirement so as to ensure cost savings brought by the Platform would directly benefit the MPF members. The MPFA, the eMPF Platform Company and the contractor of the Platform are pressing ahead at full steam on the development of the Platform and other preparatory work with a view to completing the construction of the Platform by 2023. Starting from Q2 2024, the 26 MPF schemes under 13 trustees will be arranged to get onboard to the Platform by phases in an orderly manner. It is estimated that the Platform will come into full operation in 2025.    This press release is issued by Pension Schemes Association (PSA). For enquiries, please contact the PSA Secretary at admin@pensionschemes.org   Click here to download PDF file  

As the eMPF Platform is expected to be a game changer for the sponsors of MPF schemes, Rainbow Pan, Chairman of Pension Schemes Association (PSA) and General Manager of Wealth and Pensions at Sun Life Hong Kong, opined that the platform would bring both challenges and opportunities. According to Pan, this would encourage sponsors to continuously improve the performance of their MPF funds as well as service experience. She added that the future development of the GBA will bring tremendous opportunities to the industry that enables MPF sponsors to have bigger room for development.   Link here (interview in Chinese)

The eMPF Platform, designed, built and operated by the MPFA, is a major infrastructure which aims to reshape the administrative models of MPF schemes and to standardize, streamline and automate the existing scheme administrative processes. The chairwoman of the Pension Schemes Association (PSA), Rainbow Pan, shared her opinions on the opportunities and challenges for the scheme members arising from the application of this new platform.   Link here (interview in Chinese)

HK MPF holders suffered significant losses in their pension contributions in 2022, due to the stock market crash. The chairwoman of the Pension Schemes Association (PSA), Rainbow Pan, called on the public not to be overly concerned about short-term volatility, emphasising that the scheme is a long-term investment.   Link here (interview in Chinese)  

Pension Schemes Association (“PSA”) today announced the findings of a survey on the eMPF Platform project. The survey was designed to understand the views and needs of employers with respect to the upcoming eMPF Platform, online services, and digital adoption. See Press Release here