Annual benefit statements: how to read your MPF “report card”

Chun-hei received his MPF trustee’s annual benefit statement and had no idea how to read it, so he rang his old classmate for advice. The statement is really an MPF “report card” — read it right, and it becomes your once-a-year chance to check your MPF account properly.

How can the annual benefit statement help you check your MPF account?

The annual benefit statement records your account in detail over the past financial year: its “summary of account asset movements” shows the year’s gains or losses plus the cumulative investment return since the account opened, giving you a full annual review of your MPF investments. The law requires trustees to issue at least one statement a year, within three months after the scheme’s financial year-end.

What’s inside?

1. Gains, losses and cumulative return — the “summary of account asset movements” lists the year’s profit or loss and the cumulative return since opening. This is the statement’s core.
2. Contributions and transfers — the year’s mandatory and voluntary contributions by employer and member, plus benefit transfers.
3. Fund transactions — amounts invested in each fund and fund-switching details, revealing your portfolio’s fine print.

Why keep every copy?

Many people give up sorting out preserved accounts when changing jobs simply because they can’t recall basics like the trustee’s name, scheme name or account number — all of which sit on the annual benefit statement. Keep each year’s copy and job changes stop being a treasure hunt.

The MPFA also publishes an “annual benefit statement” leaflet explaining it, downloadable from the MPFA website or available at MPFA offices, Home Affairs enquiry centres and Labour Department offices. For fund information beyond your account, see the MPF education hub.