The ultimate MPF playbook: 61% over ten years beats bank deposits — which funds led?

Can MPF alone carry a retirement? With the system past its tenth year, Lipper statistics to end-August 2011 gave an answer: Hong Kong MPF as a whole returned 61.33% over ten years, trouncing near-zero bank deposit rates. True, the recent slump demanded patience for the next up-wave — but the long-run numbers said time was the best ally.

Which MPF categories won over ten years?

Of six categories, equity and mixed-asset funds led: equity funds nearly doubled at 96.76%, mixed-asset funds returned 71.34%; money-market funds lagged at 10.09% growth.

Extremes at fund level

Among 400-plus constituent funds, Sun Life First State’s Hong Kong equity fund A beat everything: 3.43 times over ten years. Pick Japan equity instead, and HK$10,000 shrank to about HK$8,470.

Cheapest vs priciest fees: 0.09% against 3.79%

The cheapest conservative portfolio — HSBC Schroder’s MPF conservative portfolio — charged just 0.09% in fund expense ratio; the priciest, MassMutual’s guaranteed fund, charged 3.79%, the highest of all constituent funds. A 40-fold fee gap — picking wrong costs more than returns.

What workers can do

Ten years, 61%: MPF is a marathon, not a sprint, and equity’s near-doubling belonged to those who endured volatility. Audit your own mix: do categories match your horizon? Are fees reasonable? The three worst funds shared one trait — single-market bets. Diversification is the small investor’s strongest playbook. The MPF education hub teaches portfolio building from scratch.