Sun Life, as the 3rd largest MPF service provider in Hong Kong has captured 38 MPF Awards including MPF Scheme of the Year 2021 and MPF Brand of the Year Award.

MPF Ratings’ – MPF Scheme of the Year 2021

MPF Scheme of the Year finalists and the winner are assessed as the most well diversified MPF schemes across all key criteria assessed by MPF Ratings; investment performance, fees and charges, as well as an assessment of overall services within the schemes.

2020 BENCHMARK MPF of the Year Awards

Grand Award – MPF Brand of the Year

The MPF Brand of the Year Award recognizes an MPF Provider whose brand strategy best demonstrates the ability to connect with the public and increase their perceived brand trustworthiness and admiration.

You can access our MPF Award Flyer to find more details about the MPF awards received by Sun Life, including the criteria and judging methodologies.

Catching the Tailwind of “Economic Reflation 2.0” 

Global markets had been caught in a quagmire in the third quarter due to a spate of economic challenges and policy uncertainty. Soaring commodity prices, supply and logistic bottlenecks have pushed up inflation and prompted central banks to rein in ultra-loose monetary policy. Rebound in daily confirmed COVID-19 cases forced some countries to reinstate social distance requirements leading to acute shortfall in labours, which in turn further worsen the global supply chain. As the world enters the winter months, we should not forget that spring will soon follow. More and more countries are adopting a coexist (with the virus) mindset and pushing for higher vaccination rates to enable reopening to overseas visitors. Latest development in an oral medication could turn a new page to treating the infected. Rapidly depleting inventories mean ever stronger need for restocking down the road. Instead of focusing on short-term snags, investors should set eyes for the coming upturn in what we labelled “Economic Reflation 2.0”. 

To learn the market outlook of 4th quarterly of 2021 provided by Sun Life Asset Management (HK) Limited, you can access the full version of the Market Navigator – Q4 2021 for more details. 

MPF system has been launched for 21 years. During this period, financial markets have undergone tremendous changes. The China market, for example, has gradually opened up and internationalized to become a market that cannot be ignored. Last year, MPFA announced to include Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange as approved stock exchanges. This was a move to keep abreast of time.

In order to protect assets of MPF scheme members, all funds within MPF scheme are subject to investment restrictions designed to avoid excessive and unnecessary risks to the investment portfolio. For currency exposure at least 30% of investment portfolio must be denominated in Hong Kong dollars or have been hedged in Hong Kong dollars. In terms of stocks, not all stock exchanges are approved. Regulations stipulate that the proportion of MPF fund assets investing in non-approved stock exchanges cannot exceed a 10% upper limit of a fund’s net asset value. In the past, China’s A-share market was highly restrictive. Foreign investors could only gain access to the market through a number of programs with quotas (such as Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors, or QFII), which have great limitations. Therefore China’s exchange bourses were not included in the list of approved stock exchanges. However, since the introduction of “Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect” and “Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect” and subsequent relaxation of daily quotas, costs of accessing the Chinese onshore market have significantly lowered. Therefore, the condition to relax restriction on MPF investment in A-shares is met.

By relaxing the restriction of A-share investment, investment managers would have greater flexibility in striving for better returns as well as diversify risks into different sectors. As of end of October 2020, Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges encompass about 4,100 listed companies worth nearly $9.4 trillion in market-capitalization. Average daily trading volume is very large, providing foreign investors with opportunities that are not often presented in China’s offshore market. As there are still a log of inefficiencies in stock markets in China, investors can strive for higher excess returns through price discovery process. In addition, China’s A-share companies offer foreign investors opportunities not commonly found in the offshore Chinese equity market as it is home to “new economy” companies. These companies are usually more innovative than state-owned enterprises which are typically listed offshore. The addition, A-shares can diversify the risk of excessive concentration in the “old economy” industries in offshore market.

In fact, as MSCI added China A-shares into its emerging market indices for the first time in 2018, the importance of China market in global stock indexes has increased. China’s A-shares accounted for 12% of the MSCI China Index, which means that if the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange remain as non-approved stock exchanges, the performance of the MPF China fund category would deviate quite largely with a widely recognized benchmark index.

We expect that the MPF China equity fund category and MPF Greater China equity fund category would gradually see higher investment in China A shares. This may be a challenge for some MPF fund managers. After all, the market style and sectors of A-share markets are quite unique, not to mention that the market is also highly volatile. Fund managers will need to beef up resources to conduct analysis and research. Investors should pay close attention to changes in the performances of these two categories.

When you plan for retirement, you need to consider various factors, such as pre/post-retirement income levels, investment/saving amounts, retirement expenses, returns and inflation rates, etc., then identify the gap between your retirement goals and retirement savings.

Our Retirement Savings Calculator assists you to identify the disparity between the retirement goals and the retirement savings based on the financial circumstances provided by you. In addition, you can obtain the amount of regular investment/saving for eliminating the gap. You can also modify your retirement plan by adjusting the regular investment/saving amount, the retirement age or the expected retirement expenses. The printing feature allows you print a copy of the calculation results for reference and review in the future.

Try our Retirement Savings Calculator now!

According to the Code on Disclosure for MPF Investment Funds (the “Code on Disclosure”) issued by the Authority, approved trustees are required to provide a fund fact sheet with the various information about the constituent funds within the scheme at least twice per calendar year. Do you know what information has been included in a fund fact sheet?

As set out in the Code on Disclosure, a fund fact sheet is required to meet the following minimum content requirements:

(a)    Fund size – the net asset value (“NAV”) of each of the constituent funds under the scheme as the reporting date of the fund fact sheet

(b)    Launch date – the launch date of each constituent fund

(c)    Investment objectives – a brief description of the investment objectives of each constituent fund

(d)    Portfolio allocation – for each constituent fund, the allocation of assets as at the reporting date of the fund fact sheet

Top 10 holdings – the largest ten asset holdings of each constituent fund as a percentage of fund NAV as at the reporting date of the fund fact sheet or as at the last fund valuation date (a)    prior to the reporting date of the fund fact sheet (Note: For a portfolio management fund, the largest holdings should be listed in accordance with the attributed exposures of the constituent fund to the underlying assets of the underlying funds

(b)    Fund performance – for each constituent fund, the periodic rate of return for the fund over the periods of 1, 5, 10 years and since launch

(c)    Performance measurement against any benckmark used – for each constituent fund a comparison of the fund performance against the benchmark, if any, identified in the MPF Scheme Brochure of a scheme

(d)    Latest FER – the latest available Fund Expenses Ratio (“FER”) for each class of units of each constituent fund as at the reporting date of the fund fact sheet (Note: It is not necessary to show a FER for a constituent fund where the period between the reporting date of the fund fact sheet and the inception date for the fund is less than 2 years)

(e)    Appropriate fund risk indicator – a general indication about the level of risk of each constituent fund in manner that assists members in accessing the level of risks consistently across funds in the scheme

(f)     Fund descriptor – for each constituent fund, a description of the fund type in a manner that will facilitate comparison with other similar funds

(g)    Risk class – the risk class o each constituent fund as at the reporting date and a brief description of the classification methodology

(h)    Commentary – a discussion of fund performance, market review and market outlook in relation to each constituent fund

For Sun Life Rainbow MPF Scheme, on top of the above minimum contents, our fund fact sheet also provides the following fund information:

(i)      Market review – a review of different investment markets for the reporting period of the fund fact sheet

(j)      Market forecast – the Sun Life Asset Management (HK) Limited forecasts a 1 year outlook with respect to the relevant investment market(s) (Note: The market forecast is not the forecast of the fund performance of each constituent fund and neither the indicative of future performance

(k)    Dollar Cost Averaging Return – the Dollar Cost Averaging Return is a return calculated by the practice of investing a consistent dollar amount in the same investment over a period of time

You can click here to obtain the latest available fund fact sheet.