100 sign up to central pension scheme

Iong Kong Io

Around 100 people so far have asked to join the non-compulsory central pension scheme that came into effect on January 1, 2018, as per reports by public broadcaster TDM, citing comments from the chairman of the Social Security Fund (FSS), Iong Kong Io.

“We have more than 100 requests and, in the short term, these requests will be handled in the FSS,” he said, according to TDM. No companies have signed up yet, admitted Iong.

Iong made the comments at an accession ceremony welcoming seven fund managers to the non-compulsory central pension scheme. They are AIA International Ltd., Fidelidade – Companhia de Seguros, S.A. (Ramo Vida), Companhia de Seguros Luen Fung Hang – Vida, S.A., China Life Insurance (Overseas) Company Limited, Sociedade Gestora de Fundos de Pensões ICBC (Macau), S.A., Sociedade Gestora de Fundos de Pensões de Macau, S.A., and MassMutual Asia Limited.

According to the FSS chairman, the organizations that the fund managers represent “cover more than 90 percent of employers who have established private pension plans.”

A statement issued by the FSS appealed to other private pension funds to join the system, promising that the integration would not be troublesome.

“In other words, for businesses that have already set up private pension funds, if they want to participate in the non-mandatory central provident fund system in the future, most of them can be interfaced smoothly,” it read.

Moreover, the FSS has announced the launch of an online public information platform that will allow users to research and compare various investment plans under the scheme. It will include information such as the investment strategy, the risk involvement and the fees of each pension fund.