Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (HKIFA) announced the result of the Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) public consultation. HKIFA, Watson Wyatt and FTSE Group conducted the consultation to gather up-to-date information from index users and ensure that the FTSE MPF Index Series, launched in 2001, continues to meet investors’ needs and provide the most useful and precise benchmark for the market.
The results of the consultation provide an insight into the current views and concerns of the Hong Kong investment community and include confirmation that:
- 78% of respondents would like a Total Return Index (TRI) based on MPF’s actual tax withholding rate
- 75% of respondents want H shares to be included in the FTSE MPF Series
In line with its market-driven approach to index management, FTSE will implement a set of enhancements to the FTSE MPF series, beginning on January 01 2005, which includes:
- Calculation of the total return indices based on the actual tax rates used by MPF funds
- Introduce additional benchmarks to reflect the changing investment landscape. The new benchmarks are FTSE MPF Greater China, FTSE MPF China and FTSE MPF Domestic HK
Full details of the 2004 consultation topics, the results and the enhancements resulting from the consultation input can be accessed from the
Hong Kong MPF web pages
