Making sense of your MPF “report card”: the annual benefit statement

Adapted from a report published in March 2012.

Have you received the annual benefit statement — the so-called MPF “report card” — from your provider lately? Under the rules then in force, providers only had to mail it once a year, so that single envelope was your best annual cue to kick off a portfolio review.

What should you check in the annual benefit statement?

Beyond the account balance, check your portfolio weightings: are you over-concentrated in one fund, or spread so thin that each holding is tiny? Also verify that your employer’s contributions are complete and flag any underpayment for follow-up — the statement holds the answers. If anything looks off, ask the provider directly or consult an MPF intermediary.

What’s the fund fact sheet for?

The fact sheet tells you what you’re actually invested in: each fund’s objectives, fees and past performance, helping you decide whether the mix needs changing. As the system matured, more schemes were adding funds, cutting fees and launching faster information platforms; those updates appear in member communications — don’t bin them as junk mail.

Why might the statement’s figures already be stale?

Printing and postage take time, so statements typically arrived two to three months after the cut-off date, making the numbers feel dated. A statement cut off on 31 December 2011, for instance, could look very different from your balance after markets climbed in early 2012. Use the statement for the annual review, but check your provider’s online platform for up-to-date account details — and ask the provider to reset your login if you’ve forgotten it.