July 2021
26Jul

Coronavirus exposes cracks in Hongkongers’ retirement planning as health care costs and weak savings dominate worries, EIU survey finds

The Covid-19 pandemic has left most working adults in Hongkong fearing for their financial position and readiness for retirement, according to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit commissioned by HSBC Life Insurance. Read also UK. Triple lock is far from the biggest pension issue on government’s plate Some 98 per cent of Hongkongers expressed worries about ageing in the city, with medical and health care costs, insufficient savings and income security dominating their top concerns. Less than a quarter of...

July 26, 2021
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09Jul

Hong Kong’s pension fund posts 4.5 per cent investment gain in first half, but policy and regulatory challenges lie ahead

Hongkongers probably earned the most returns in two years from their US$154 billion pension scheme in the first half of this year from a rally in global stocks. These winnings could be eroded by policy tightening in the US and a tech sector crackdown at home by China. Read also ESG: Fad or Future? The Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) generated HK$52.6 billion (US$6.8 billion) of investment income in the January to June period, according to calculations by the Post based on...

July 9, 2021
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June 2021
08Jun

Hong Kong’s departing residents withdrew $248.9 million in pension funds in Q1

Hong Kong residents leaving the city for good withdrew a total of HK$1.931 billion ($248.92 million) from their Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) pension accounts in the first quarter of 2021, up 49.1% from the same period a year earlier. A total of 7,700 claims were made during the first quarter. That compared with 7,600 claims during the same period in 2020, when HK$1.295 billion was withdrawn, data from the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority released late on Monday showed. (https://bit.ly/3geyWKC). Read...

June 8, 2021
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January 2021

20Jan

Hong Kong’s jobless rate hits 16-year high

Hong Kong's jobless rate hit a 16-year high in the October-December period as the fourth wave of the COVID-19 outbreak further compounded the labor market situation, official data showed Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 6.3 percent in the September-November period to 6.6 percent in the October-December period, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said in a press release. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.4 percent, showed...

January 20, 2021
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September 2019

05Sep

Hong Kong. Legacy Trust have launched a crypto pension plan

The Hong Kong based company Legacy Trust has opened a pension plan based on digital assets. In what could be a world first the company have started a voluntary pension plan open to employers and the self-employed for which contributions and the underlying portfolio can include digital assets. Vincent Chok, CEO of Legacy Trust said: "Investors are moving beyond speculation — they want to use digital assets and bring them into a diversified portfolio," he then added "We...

September 5, 2019
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January 2019

31Jan

Pension Milestones: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau take key steps in 2018

Pension experts from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau exchanged views and shared best practices on pensions and retirement savings issues across the region at the 10th Annual Cross Strait Pension Forum hosted by Hong Kong Retirement Schemes Association (HKRSA). The implementation of a Central Provident Fund (CPF) in Macau and the introduction of a tax deferral scheme for private pensions in China were among key milestones in 2018 for the pension sector, according to HKRSA Chairman Janet Li....

January 31, 2019
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May 2018

18May

Hong Kong faces challenge in how to manage its ageing population

According to “Hong Kong Population Projections 2015-2064”, the number of elderly people, those aged 65 or older, in Hong Kong will reach 2.58 million by 2064, around 35.9 per cent of the population. The work force, those aged 15 to 64, will shrink to 3.92 million, or 54.6 per cent of the population). In 2014, the elderly dependency ratio was 198, meaning each elderly person was supported by 2.4 of working age. The ratio is projected to jump to 567...

May 18, 2018
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January 2018

02Jan

Insurers adapting to ageing Hong Kong and China with policies that cover longer lives

Ageing populations in Hong Kong and mainland China are leading the insurance industry to extend the age range of life products and to include cover for more diseases and for mental illness, according to a senior executive at reinsurer Swiss Re. Robert Burr, the managing director and head of life and health reinsurance client markets in Asia, told the South China Morning Post in an interview that statistics showed 25 per cent of people born today would be able to live to...

January 2, 2018
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September 2017

20Sep

Hong Kong needs to reform pension fund system: PwC report

Hong Kong's pension fund, Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), a system which covers 73 percent of the employed population in Hong Kong, needs to address problems to manage risks, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report said on Tuesday. The problems include high fees, unattractive returns, a reliance on paper-based processing, and a blanket approach that offers few incentives for members to pay more into their MPF portfolios, said PwC's Review of Hong Kong's MPF System: Recommendations for Key Reforms. Hong Kong is not immune...

September 20, 2017
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