MPF’s 10-month rally runs out of steam as assets drop 6 per cent in March

Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) recorded its first decline in assets in nearly a year in March, snapping a 10-month run of growth as investment losses weighed on the compulsory retirement scheme covering 4.8 million members.

Total MPF assets fell to HK$1.532 trillion (US$196 billion) at the end of March, down HK$99.2 billion, or 6 per cent, from a record HK$1.63 trillion a month earlier, according to MPF Ratings, an independent consultancy tracking the system’s performance.

Assets were also HK$21.8 billion lower than at the end of last year, reflecting a combination of investment losses and ongoing member contributions.

On average, each MPF member saw their pension savings shrink by HK$20,071 in March, or HK$4,556 over the first quarter, to HK$319,561, MPF Ratings said.

“After recording a 10th consecutive month of asset growth in February, the MPF system saw almost half of its 2025 annual investment gain erased in March, logging a monthly investment loss of around HK$102 billion,” said Francis Chung, chairman of MPF Ratings.

“This significant loss was not the fault of the MPF system,” he added, pointing to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that had unsettled markets, pushed up energy prices and heightened economic uncertainty. “For the MPF’s 4.8 million members, the consequence has been an erosion of retirement wealth.”