Unions 'an option' to run MPF schemes
Pensions chief suggests NGO involvement may help force down management fees, but lawmakers and investment firm raise doubts
Mandatory provident fund schemes run by non-profit organisations could be an option to drive down management fees, the head of Hong Kong's pension fund regulator says.
Anna Wu Hung-yuk cited trade unions and industry associations as an example of possible alternatives to the current scheme providers from the finance industry.
She pointed to trade union involvement in running pensions in Australia.
Wu, chairwoman of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, said involving non-governmental organisations would inject more competition into pension provision.
However, lawmakers and one of the city's largest private investment firms, Invesco, have reservations about the idea.
Establishing non-profit-making operators as MPF trustees is one of the authority's recommendations to the government for long-term structural reform of the pension schemes.