https://www.scmp.com/rss/523317/feed The latest news and top stories on Ayesha Macpherson Lau. A chartered accountant, she chairs the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority and its eMPF Platform Company Limited since March 2021. She spent 33 years at KPMG Hong Kong, rising to Partner and Managing Partner, specialising in taxation. She also serves on various advisory bodies including the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ng Kang-chung Ng Kang-chung Hong Kong employers could face punitive surcharges for failing to pay outstanding contributions to their staff members’ pension accounts for extended periods, with data showing only one in six bosses settled the arrears within the prescribed two-week deadline. The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), which manages the city’s pension plans, said it was working on a “two-tier surcharge” mechanism proposal that it hoped to present to the government by the middle of the year. In a blog... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3348298/mpf-authority-propose-2-tier-surcharges-late-employer-contributions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3348298/mpf-authority-propose-2-tier-surcharges-late-employer-contributions?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 10:18:10 +0000 Enoch Yiu Enoch Yiu The electronic platform of the Mandatory Provident Fund (eMPF) will cut administration fees for 378 investment funds by more than 21 per cent from April 1, the pension regulator said on Tuesday, adding that this will achieve its cost-saving target of HK$50 billion (US$6.4 billion) in less than 10 years. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po approved the reduction, which would lower administration costs from 0.37 per cent to 0.29 per cent of assets under management, representing a 21.6 per cent fee... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3347671/hong-kongs-empf-cut-fees-216-april-saving-us64-billion-10-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3347671/hong-kongs-empf-cut-fees-216-april-saving-us64-billion-10-years?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2026 05:06:37 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial People have long complained their mandatory pensions will never be enough to retire on. That is true, but the flip side is that by contributing less than many comparable pension schemes overseas, local workers have more spending power in the present. There is always a trade-off. Perhaps the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) scheme should be seen more as a financial cushion for a person at the end of their working life, rather than a nest egg. Still, the scheme needs to continue to keep up with, or... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3346183/raising-mpf-contribution-levels-tricky-necessary-step-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3346183/raising-mpf-contribution-levels-tricky-necessary-step-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 23:15:08 +0000 Leopold Chen Leopold Chen Hong Kong’s workers and employers may have to each pay up to HK$2,000 (US$255) a month or 33 per cent more than the present level into the Mandatory Provident Fund, as the pension regulator proposed to raise the contribution threshold, which has remained unchanged for 13 years. The Federation of Hong Kong Industries, one of the city’s largest business chambers, revealed on Sunday evening the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) had consulted its leaders and proposed increasing the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3345860/hong-kong-may-raise-mpf-contributions-after-13-year-freeze-thresholds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3345860/hong-kong-may-raise-mpf-contributions-after-13-year-freeze-thresholds?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 06:14:25 +0000 Leopold Chen Leopold Chen The operator of Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) has tightened its online security by scrapping an electronic verification system after scammers used forged identity cards to open accounts and steal residents’ pensions. Ayesha Macpherson Lau, chairwoman of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, said in a blog post on Sunday that the body had jettisoned the identification tool for its eMPF online platform in favour of the government’s one-stop verification app, “iAM Smart”. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3341160/mpf-operator-tightens-identity-verification-process-wake-scam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3341160/mpf-operator-tightens-identity-verification-process-wake-scam?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jan 2026 09:36:43 +0000 Enoch Yiu Enoch Yiu The electronic platform of the Mandatory Provident Fund (eMPF) is expected to reach its fee cut target five years ahead of schedule and could save the scheme’s 4.75 million members HK$50 billion (US$6.4 billion) in less than 10 years, according to the chairwoman of the pension regulator. The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) revised its estimates of cost savings from the eMPF platform on Monday during a media briefing hosted by Ayesha Macpherson Lau, who provided an update on the... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3336392/hong-kongs-empf-hit-fee-cut-target-5-years-early-saving-us64-billion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3336392/hong-kongs-empf-hit-fee-cut-target-5-years-early-saving-us64-billion?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Dec 2025 08:00:09 +0000 Enoch Yiu Enoch Yiu The Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) turns 25 years old this month, with most of its pension funds delivering solid returns that have enabled all but the most conservative members to outpace both inflation and bank deposits, according to data from the pension regulator. The year-to-date net investment return of the MPF stood at 15 per cent, putting the retirement scheme on track for its best year since 2017, when it reported an annual return of 22.3 per cent, according to data from the Mandatory... https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3335674/hong-kongs-mpf-marks-25-years-strong-returns-growing-public-confidence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3335674/hong-kongs-mpf-marks-25-years-strong-returns-growing-public-confidence?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Dec 2025 02:00:09 +0000 Enoch Yiu Enoch Yiu Hong Kong’s pension scheme improved its overall adequacy, sustainability and integrity over the past 12 months, rising from a C+ grade to a B – equal to schemes in some European countries but still trailing Singapore’s – according to a report released on Wednesday. The HK$1.5 trillion (US$193 billion) Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) scored 70.6 points out of a ­possible 100 in the annual Mercer CFA Institute’s Global Pension Index, up from 63.9 last year. The programme now holds the third-best... https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3328990/hong-kongs-pension-scheme-earns-higher-grade-still-lags-behind-singapores?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3328990/hong-kongs-pension-scheme-earns-higher-grade-still-lags-behind-singapores?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Oct 2025 23:00:21 +0000 Enoch Yiu Enoch Yiu The Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) achieved record earnings of HK$207 billion (US$26.5 billion) in the first nine months of this year, pushing total assets to the HK$1.5 trillion mark for the first time, according to the pension regulator on Monday. The performance translated to an average gain of HK$43,225 for each of the 4.8 million MPF members, according to data from MPF Ratings, an independent research firm. The record figure for the first three quarters of the year was 18 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3328036/hong-kongs-mpf-assets-hit-hk15-trillion-after-record-gain-first-9-months?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3328036/hong-kongs-mpf-assets-hit-hk15-trillion-after-record-gain-first-9-months?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Oct 2025 01:15:07 +0000 Enoch Yiu Enoch Yiu The city’s pension regulator has begun a review of regulations related to a fee cap for a popular investment option under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), as Hongkongers get older and work past the traditional retirement age. In a recent interview, chairwoman Ayesha Macpherson Lau of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) said the review, to be completed next year, would be the first attempt at reforming the low-fee Default Investment Strategy (DIS) fund since its launch in... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3324053/hong-kongs-mpfa-reviews-low-fee-funds-address-needs-silver-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3324053/hong-kongs-mpfa-reviews-low-fee-funds-address-needs-silver-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Sep 2025 23:30:08 +0000 Enoch Yiu Enoch Yiu The 4.75 million members of Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) could save up to HK$50 billion (US$6.4 billion) in fees over a 10-year period after its electronic platform’s full implementation next year, according to the city’s retirement schemes regulator. The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) revised its original estimate made a few years earlier of HK$30 billion to HK$40 billion in savings from fee reduction because the digital platform, called eMPF, worked better than... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3323749/hong-kongs-empf-could-save-us65-billion-members-10-years-regulator-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3323749/hong-kongs-empf-could-save-us65-billion-members-10-years-regulator-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Aug 2025 01:00:16 +0000 Enoch Yiu Enoch Yiu Hong Kong’s pension regulator said the number of millionaires in its scheme doubled as the total assets of the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) reached an all-time high of HK$1.4 trillion (US$178 billion) as of June, an increase of 130 per cent from 10 years earlier. In a blog post on Sunday, Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) chairwoman Ayesha Macpherson Lau said around 125,000 MPF members had assets of more than HK$1 million, double the tally from five years earlier. The MPFA... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3319645/number-millionaires-hong-kong-mpf-doubles-assets-hit-us178-billion-mpfa-chair?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3319645/number-millionaires-hong-kong-mpf-doubles-assets-hit-us178-billion-mpfa-chair?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Jul 2025 02:00:29 +0000