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Enoch Yiu

While women like to follow fashion and change their handbags and shoes, it seems men like to change their pension providers.
A survey conducted by the Hong Kong Investment Fund Associations shows 31 per cent of employees intend to change their Mandatory Provident Fund providers once a new law allows them to do so, and of those, 63 per cent are male.
Forty-five per cent said they would stick with their current providers, while the rest were undecided.
Under the law, which was passed in July, employees can switch MPF providers for their part of the contribution once a year, but the employers' contribution will remain with the providers chosen by the boss.
Pension regulator Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority is working on the final details before the law is implemented next year.
Most of those who intended to change providers were in the 30 to 49 age range, earning between HK$10,000 and HK$19,000 a month.
Just over half said they wanted to change providers to get better returns, while 28 per cent said they wanted more choice. More than 70 per cent of employees who intended to switch said they wanted to get into mainland bonds and stocks, followed by 54 per cent who said they would invest in Hong Kong government bonds.
However, the overall results of the survey show that employees are not big believers in the MPF, with 82 per cent saying they did not think it would provide enough support for their retirement.
In addition, 90 per cent of respondents said they did not make voluntarily contributions to the scheme on top of the mandatory requirement.
It seems more needs to be done to get the government to improve the pension scheme, which covers more than two million people in the city.
Guest to talk about pensions
Appropriately, our podcast guest this week is Diana Kwan, vice-president of New York Life Insurance Worldwide in Hong Kong, who talks about pensions. With an ageing population and a longer life expectancy in the city, retirement schemes are a hot topic. 
New York Life recently launched a pension plan that involves policyholders paying premiums for eight years to get a guaranteed monthly income for up to 18 years.
Kwan explains why she thinks there is a demand for such plans in a market already covered by the MPF.
Sheng's book right on cue
When former Securities and Futures Commission chairman Andrew Sheng stepped down in 2005, he said he intended to write a book, expecting it would only take about six months. Four years on and he is ready to launch his tome - From Asian to Global Financial Crisis.
It may have taken a bit longer than anticipated, but his timing couldn't be better, with the first anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse next week.



Men more likely to switch MPF providers to get better returns