July 2023
31Jul

More Hong Kong workers make voluntary contributions to MPF as returns shrink by 21 per cent

More Hong Kong workers have made voluntary, tax-deductible contributions to their mandatory pension accounts in the past financial year than during the previous one, while the net returns of the scheme shrank 21 per cent due to market volatility. The Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), the compulsory retirement scheme that covers 4.7 million residents, had amassed assets worth HK$1.11 trillion (US$142 billion) as of March 31, compared with HK$1.12 trillion a year ago, according to the operator’s annual report released on...

July 31, 2023
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25Jul

Over half of people in Hong Kong expect to Work after Retirement, with One-Third citing Lack of Money

Reasons vary among the different generations, households, and genders – from family obligations, desired lifestyles, and financial status, reflecting the diverse nature of people’s thinking about retirement. The findings are part of Manulife Investment Management's Diverse Asia retirement series, which looks at the challenges and opportunities facing Asia’s ageing populations and how they are woven into the demographic profiles and socioeconomic foundations in the region. For Gen Z, Gen X and Baby boomers, their primary reasons for working after retirement are for their...

July 25, 2023
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May 2023
18May

Hong Kong: Older people are increasingly choosing to work longer

People nearing or past age 65 are increasingly choosing to work longer. Between 2011 and 2021, the share of labour force participants aged 55 to 64 years rose from 49% to 59%, and that of people aged 65 and over more than doubled, from 6.2% to 12.5%, according to a report released by Prudential plc. Financial need is a major motivator in Hong Kong in the decision to prolong one’s working life, as lifespans in Hong Kong grow longer, says...

May 18, 2023
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17May

Hong Kong’s ageing population time bomb to leave a shortage of 60,000 residences for the elderly by 2032: JLL

Hong Kong will face a shortage of over 60,000 residences for the elderly by 2032 as the city’s population rapidly ages, before eventually becoming the world’s oldest society by 2050, according to JLL. The city’s Kwun Tong, Yuen Long, Sha Tin and Eastern district are among the areas with the most serious ageing problem, the property consultancy said in a report on Tuesday. In Kwun Tong, only one in 41 elderly people will find a place in elderly homes, it...

May 17, 2023
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11May

UK MPs urge minister to do more to free Hongkongers’ trapped savings

The first British ministerial visit to Hong Kong since the introduction of draconian Chinese security laws five years ago was a chance to demand that China unlock more than £2bn in pensions belonging to British overseas passport holders who fled for the UK, former cabinet ministers have told the Foreign Office. A letter signed by more than 90 MPs, including 10 former ministers, urges the trade minister Dominic Johnson to do more to release frozen savings belonging to thousands of...

May 11, 2023
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April 2023
19Apr

Hong Kong pensions body slams The Wall Street Journal over claim that BNO passport holders’ assets held ‘hostage’

Hong Kong’s pensions fund authority has demanded that American newspaper The Wall Street Journal retract “misinformation” in an op-ed about holders of British National Overseas (BNO) passports’ access to their pensions. The op-ed, titled “Hong Kong’s Hostage Pensions,” was published by the paper’s editorial board last Friday. It discussed a Mandatory Provident Fund policy that denies pension payouts to emigrants using BNO passports as evidence of early withdrawal of funds. Anyone who permanently leaves the city is normally entitled to make...

April 19, 2023
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February 2023
09Feb

UK MPs and peers find HSBC complicit in Hong Kong human rights abuses

HSBC is complicit in human rights abuses against Hong Kong residents by siding with Chinese authorities and denying pension payouts to those who fled the authoritarian crackdown, an inquiry by peers and MPs has concluded. The report by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on Hong Kong took issue with the fact that banks including HSBC – which help to manage the compulsory pension fund that all residents pay into – have bowed to local authorities and refused to recognise the...

February 9, 2023
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December 2022
15Dec

Departing Hong Kong residents took $378 million from pensions in Q3

Residents leaving Hong Kong for good withdrew a total of HK$2.177 billion (S$378 million) from their pension accounts in the third quarter of 2022, down 16.4 per cent from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday. A total of 8,600 claims to withdraw from the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) were made in the July-September quarter, compared with the 9,300 claims taking out HK$2.604 billion during the same period in 2021. The figure also compared with 8,600 claims in the April-June...

December 15, 2022
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November 2022
29Nov

70% of Hong Kong banking customers not satisfied with their online experience

Consumer confidence in digital banking has risen strongly in past two years – but large majority would trust 'Big Tech' with their finances at least as much as a bank. Hong Kong consumer confidence in digital banking is rising but trust is no longer a bank monopoly, according to a new Asia-Pacific focused Bank of the Future survey from Capco, the global technology and management consultancy. Capco surveyed 707 Hong Kong consumers to gauge their attitudes to banking services at a...

November 29, 2022
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October 2022
31Oct

Hong Kong pension fund arrears hit 3-year high as coronavirus impact continues to devastate businesses

Pension fund contribution arrears among Hong Kong employers have hit a three-year high amid the Covid-19 slump and an average of 28,500 default notices a month have been issued to non-compliant businesses since April, the city’s pensions supervisor has revealed. Ayesha Macpherson Lau, the chairwoman of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, wrote on her official blog on Sunday she was concerned the increase in defaulting companies could weaken retirement protection for employees and promised to take steps to help...

October 31, 2022
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