Why Did Lawmakers Push to Legislate MPF Fee Caps?

What happened in the December 2010 LegCo debate?

In December 2010, LegCo debated reviewing MPF: FTU’s Wong Kwok-kin blasted fees as still too high a decade in, eroding employee contributions, and demanded legislated fee caps, full portability letting employees choose trustees, and scrapping the severance-payment offset. Secretary Chan Ka-keung admitted room for improvement and promised follow-ups with the MPFA. Functional-constituency lawmaker Wong Ting-kwong opposed, citing heavier employer admin burdens.

How high were MPF fees then?

Overall fund expense ratios ran around 1.6%–1.85%, seen as eating long-term returns. Trustees later cut fees in waves — HSBC led in February 2011, slashing three constituent funds’ management fees by up to 40%.

How can members protect themselves?

Actively compare fund expense ratios and pick reasonably priced funds; after the ECA, members could also vote with their feet by switching trustees yearly.