It's going to be a big year for the SAR's retirement funds industry.
While the end of the millennium will be a momentous occasion, pension-fund providers are gearing up for their big day at the end of next year when the much-awaited Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) scheme is scheduled to begin.
The start date can't happen soon enough for most Hong Kongers. After years of debate that ranged from issues about its timing, contribution levels and the number of choices down to plain old political posturing and self-interested stubborn resistance from recession-ravaged employers, we are now nearing implementation.
But with just 12 months to go, just how prepared are all would-be participants? From the Government's perspective, preparations are going reasonably smoothly, with a number of senior management positions in the scheme's regulator being filled in recent months and the announcement of a publicity and public-education campaign to commence early next year.
On the service-provider side, a number of strategic developments in the second half of this year have brought the potential MPF market composition more sharply into focus.
The Bank Consortium Trust of 10 SAR banks was formed, while alliances between Jardine Fleming and AIA, Bank of China and Prudential, and between Schroders, Aetna and HSBC have shifted the balance of market power somewhat.