Countdown to Semi-Portability: Big Five Trustees’ Two Moves to Win Clients

This article is a rewrite of a report from November 2012.

With semi-portability days away, employees gained the right to move their own contributions from 1 November. The Big Five trustees couldn’t wait, jumping into the land grab early: fee cuts and rebates, aimed squarely at big accounts. The MPF fee war had begun.

Who fired the biggest shot?

Manulife: up to nearly 37% off for HK$1m accounts. The second-largest player (00945) tiered members mid-month, with bigger accounts getting bigger discounts — the first price-war wave after the Consumer Council’s “deep-water” attack. Third-ranked AIA (01299) announced its own preferred-client perks on 31 October.

Was AIA’s move enough to keep clients?

Its new-client-only 0.2% rebate was seen as too little. AIA’s original play: new joiners bringing preserved accounts (renamed personal accounts from November) got a 0.2% management-fee rebate after 13 months, any amount. The market judged it too weak to retain — hence the top-up announcement.

What is the lesson from 2012?

In 2012’s price war, the first shot always targeted big accounts. Tiered rebates, higher thresholds for bigger cuts — the Big Five’s common language. Workers should ask: is your account big enough to taste the perk? If not, chase low-fee funds themselves, not the rebate.