Hong Kong Monetary Authority: exploring the direction of investing in gold ETFs in the Mandatory Provident Fund to continue promoting cost reduction.

Chairman of the Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, Lui Mak Ka-yuen, stated at the Financial Affairs Committee that a review has been completed of the trillions of MPF investments in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). This year, they will continue to examine the scope of investments that the trillions of MPF can make, in order to include more diverse investment products, including Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). She further mentioned that they are prepared to explore the direction of investing in Gold ETFs for the trillions of MPF, as the market has progressed and changed, and the government is looking to promote Hong Kong as a gold trading hub, there may be new products or investment options that are suitable for the trillions of MPF, and will be discussed in the coming year. She pointed out that once REITs are included in the mutual market access scheme, they plan to allow the trillions of MPF to invest in REITs listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Once a timeline is established, the Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority will quickly cooperate and implement it, while also removing the investment limits for REITs listed on 5 overseas markets. She continued by stating that the Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority will complete a comprehensive review and improvement recommendations for the Prescribed Investment Strategy (DIS) by the end of 2026, to meet the needs of the plan members. Regarding the MPF e-platform, Lui Mak Ka-yuen pointed out that currently, there are 12 trustees and 22 plans that have successfully joined the MPF e-platform, with the remaining two industry plans scheduled to join by the end of March and April. She mentioned that with the introduction of the MPF e-platform, it is expected that the average administrative fees for the trillions of MPF will decrease to 0.29% next year, which is half of the amount before the platform was established. They will continue to push for fee reductions, aiming to reduce administrative fees to 0.2% to 0.25% within 10 years of the platform's operation, and are confident that they can achieve this within 5 years. Lui Mak Ka-yuen also predicted that the total expenditure of the MPF Authority will continue to decrease by 2% in the next fiscal year, resulting in a total reduction of 5% over 3 years. She mentioned that the Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority was established by the government with HK$ 5 billion in 1998, and it is estimated that there will still be approximately HK$ 2.1 billion in surplus by the end of March 2027, despite operating deficits. They plan to review the annual registration fee in order to recover all costs.