BCT Investment Alert – Implications of the Fed’s Hawkish Rate Hike Decision

Glossary in this category not found.

Accrued Benefits

The amount of a member's interest in a scheme at a particular time calculated as the contributions made by the member and his/her employer(s), together with any investment return (profit or loss) on such contributions.

Age 65 Plus Fund

One of the two constituent funds used in the Default Investment Strategy. It is a globally diversified mixed asset fund which invests around 20% of its net asset value in higher risk assets (such as global equities) and the rest in lower risk assets (such as global bonds).

Approved Pooled Investment Fund (APIF)

An investment fund which is invested into a constituent fund that forms part of an MPF scheme approved by the MPFA in accordance with the requirements set out in the General Regulation and the Code on MPF Investment Funds.

Asset Transfer-In

Accrued benefits (lump sum) that are transferred from other provident fund schemes into another provided fund scheme.

Casual Employee

Under the MPF legislation, any person employed in the catering or construction industries by an employer on a day-to-day basis or for a fixed period of less than 60 days.

Constituent Fund

An investment fund that constitutes a registered MPF scheme, or a fund that forms part of the MPF scheme, complying with regulatory requirements.

Contribution Account

An account with an MPF scheme into which mandatory contributions and voluntary contributions (if any) are made in respect of any current employment or current self-employment of a member.

Contribution Day

A payment due date that an employer is required to make MPF contributions payment for his employees.

For non-casual employees - the 10th day of the calendar month following the end of the relevant contribution period.
For casual employees - one of the following days as agreed by the participating employer:
the next working day (other than a Saturday) immediately subsequent to the payment of relevant income for the relevant contribution period; or
the 10th calendar day following the last day of the relevant contribution period.
For self-employed persons - the last day of the contribution period.

Contribution Period

The payment period of relevant income of an employee. For example, if an employer pays salary on a monthly basis according to the employment contract, the contribution period is one calendar month.

Core Accumulation Fund

One of the two constituent funds used in the Default Investment Strategy. It is a globally diversified mixed asset fund which invests around 60% of its net asset value in higher risk assets (such as global equities) and the rest in lower risk assets (such as global bonds).

Custodian

The custodian of an MPF scheme is responsible for providing custodial services for the scheme assets and the settlement of investment transactions.

Default Contributions

Mandatory contributions are in arrears if they are not paid by the contribution day. The defaulter is liable to pay the contributions in arrears. He / she may also be required to pay a contribution surcharge as well as a financial penalty if the MPFA has issued a relevant payment notice to the defaulter.

Early Retirement

Any scheme member between the age 60 and 64 can make a statutory declaration that he / she has permanently ceased employment in order to withdraw his / her accrued benefits derived from mandatory contributions.

Employer

Any person who has entered into a contract of employment with some other person as his / her employee.

Default Investment Strategy (“DIS”)

A ready-made, fee-controlled investment solution, designed mainly for MPF scheme members who do not have time or do not know how to manage their MPF investments. DIS is a strategy that uses two constituent funds, i.e. the Core Accumulation Fund and the Age 65 Plus Fund, and automatically reduces risk exposure as a member approaches retirement age. DIS is also available as an active choice for scheme members who find it suitable for their own circumstances.

Employer Sponsored Scheme

A scheme tailor-made for the employees of an employer and its group companies.

Exempted Persons

Domestic workers.
Self-employed hawkers.
People covered by statutory pension or provident fund scheme, such as civil servants and subsidised / grant school teachers.
Members of occupational retirement schemes which are granted exemption certificates.
People from overseas who enter Hong Kong for employment for less than 13 months, or who are covered by overseas retirement schemes.
Employees of the European Union Office of the European Commission in Hong Kong.
Employees employed for less than 60 days (other than casual employees).
Any person who has reached the age of 64 when the MPF Scheme Ordinance came into effect on 1 December 2000.

Former Trustee

The previous person (or company) who holds property in trust for another person (or beneficiary).

Fund Expense Ratio (FER)

A figure presented in percentage which provides a measure of the total level of expenses incurred in investing in a fund for a given financial period.

Fund Redemption

The selling of units of an investment fund.

Fund Subscription

The purchase of units of an investment fund.

Fund Switching

The transfer of accrued balance from one constituent fund to another constituent fund within the same scheme.

Industry Scheme

A registered MPF scheme which caters for persons engaging in the catering and construction industries.

Long Service Payment (LSP)

The payment payable by an employer to an employee or to a person entitled to such payment under the Employment Ordinance. The MPF benefits accrued from the employer's contributions can be used to offset any Long Service Payment.

MPF Conservative Fund

A statutorily required constituent fund of MPF scheme with the investment objective to provide members with a rate of return matching or exceeding the Hong Kong dollar savings rate with a view to minimising the exposure of the principal amount to market fluctuation and volatility.

MPF Participation Certificate

A document issued by the MPFA and distributed through approved trustees after an employer has enroled in an MPF registered scheme. The employer is required to display such certificate at the workplace.

Mandatory Contribution

The statutory contribution to a registered scheme which is calculated at a certain percentage of a person's relevant income. Under the current legislation, both employers and employees have to pay a minimum contribution of 5% of relevant income, which includes wages, salary, leave pay, fee, commission, bonus, gratuity, housing allowance, other housing benefits, perquisite or allowances to a registered scheme. Self-employed persons will also have to contribute 5% of their relevant income.

Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA)

A statutory regulator of the MPF system. The MPFA is responsible for regulating and monitoring the operation of provident fund schemes.

Master Trust Scheme

A registered scheme for regular employees, self-employed persons and personal account members.

Membership Certificate

A document issued by an approved trustee which shows that a member has enroled in an MPF registered scheme.

ORSO scheme

A voluntary retirement scheme set up under the Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance (ORSO). An ORSO scheme is established by an employer as part of their employee benefit program.

On-going Cost Illustration (OCI)

An illustration of the total effect of fees and charges on each HK$1,000 contributed in a fund for a given period of time. The OCI, is annually updated based on the fund expense ratio of the fund in the previous financial year, and, for comparison purpose, assuming an annual rate of investment return of 5%.

Pay Record

Employers must provide each employee with a pay record within seven working days after the last contribution payment made for the period except for casual employees in an industry scheme whose contribution is made on or before the next working day following the payment of relevant income to these employees.

It includes information of an employee's relevant income, the amount of contributions (both mandatory and voluntary) and the date the contributions are paid to the trustee.

Permanent Departure from Hong Kong

A member who ceases his / her employment and leaves Hong Kong permanently. This can only be used once as a ground for withdrawal of MPF accrued benefits.

Personal Account

An individual account held in a member's name with an MPF scheme (other than a contribution account) to preserve his accrued benefits accumulated from his former employment or self-employment.

Personal Account Member

A holder of the personal account.

Personal Identification Number (PIN)

A password for MPF registered members (employers, employees, self-employed persons, casual employees and personal account members) to access their accounts via website and interactive voice response system (IVRS)

Phased Withdrawal

Scheme members who have reached the age of 65, or who have reached the age of 60 and have decided to early retire can choose to either withdraw their MPF benefits by instalments or withdraw all their MPF benefits in a lump sum, or retain all their MPF benefits in their accounts for continuous investment.

If members choose to withdraw their MPF benefits by instalments, they can submit their application any time, according to their personal needs. There is also no limit on the amount of each instalment or the number of withdrawals.

Portability

The transfer of accrued benefits between MPF registered schemes. That is:

the benefits may be retained within the same registered scheme; or
they can be transferred to another scheme on change of employment.

Prescribed Savings Rate (PSR)

PSR is calculated based on the average of the interest rates offered by the three note-issuing banks in Hong Kong on Hong Kong dollar savings account with deposit amount of HK$120,000. It is used as a benchmark to decide whether an MPF scheme trustee can collect fees and charges on Capital Preservation Fund for a particular month.

According to the legislation, administrative expenses (other than the Compensation Fund levy) can only be deducted from a Capital Preservation Fund by the trustee when the returns of the fund for the month exceed the PSR published by the MPFA.

Preservation

Accrued benefits are strictly preserved until a scheme member attains the retirement age of 65 or satisfies other requirements of accrued benefits withdrawal as allowed by MPFSO.

MPF Scheme Brochure

An offering document authorised by the Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) which contains up-to-date and accurate information about the scheme.

Regular Employee

Under the MPF legislation, any full-time and part-time employee who is aged between 18 and 65 and is employed under an employment contract for a continuous period of not less than 60 days.

Relevant Income

In the case of a relevant employee, it means any wage, salary, leave pay, fee, commission, bonus, gratuity, housing allowance, other housing benefits, perquisite or allowance (excluding severance payments or long service payments), expressed in monetary terms, paid or payable by an employer (directly or indirectly) to that employee in consideration of his / her employment under an employment contract.
In the case of a self-employed person, it refers to his / her assessable profits that are calculated in accordance with the Inland Revenue Ordinance or such amount as declared by that person.

Remittance Statement

A statement showing the relevant income and the amount of contribution (mandatory and voluntary, if any) of each employee which should be provided with the contributions for each contribution period. The statement is sent to the trustee by the employer.

Retirement Age

The age of 65.

Self-employed Person (SEP)

A person whose relevant income (otherwise than that derived in the capacity as an employee) derives from his / her production (in whole or in part) of goods or services in Hong Kong, or his / her trade in goods or services in or from Hong Kong. In other words, self-employed person is a sole proprietor or a partner in a business and is not employed as an employee by another person.

Severance Payment (SP)

A statutory payment to an employee by his / her employer under the Employment Ordinance. Under the MPF legislation, the MPF benefits accrued from employer's contributions can be used to offset Severance Payment.

Small Balance Account

With total accrued benefits of an amount not exceeding HK$5,000, a member can claim for withdrawal of such balance if:

the member does not intend to be employed or self-employed in the foreseeable future;
no mandatory contributions were paid or required to be paid for the member during the 12 months immediately preceding the lodgment of the claim; and
the member does not have any accrued benefits kept in any other registered MPF scheme.

Surcharge

A penalty imposed by the MPFA on an employer for late contribution (5% of the overdue amount of both employer and employee's mandatory contributions).

Total Incapacity

One of the permitted grounds for early withdrawal of accrued MPF benefits by a member. The total incapacity must be certified by a registered medical practitioner and relates to the kind of work that the member was last performing before becoming incapacitated.

Transferee Trustee

An approved trustee who receives the transfer of the accrued benefits of a member from another trustee.

Transferor Trustee

An approved trustee who transfers the accrued benefits of a member to another trustee.

Trustee

A person (or company) who holds property in trust for another person (the beneficiary). Under MPF system, every MPF scheme are administrated, managed and maintained by an "approved trustee" that was approved by MPFA pursuant to the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance.

Unvested Benefit

Any benefit that a member is not entitled to claim upon his termination of employment. It applies only to voluntary contributions made by an employer for his/her employee(s).

Vesting

In the context of MPF, the concept of vesting refers to the legal rights of possession of the mandatory contributions and voluntary contributions by an employee or a self-employed person. Under the MPF legislation, all mandatory contributions and any income and gains derived from them are 100% and immediately vested to an employee. However, an employer may apply for offsetting LSP / SP paid to an employee from employer's contributions and gains derived from such contributions.

Voluntary Contribution

An employer and / or employee may make additional contributions on top of the mandatory contributions. For example, an employer and / or employee may wish to make additional contributions. Another example is where the employer may decide to make an additional contribution for senior staff (e.g. an extra 2.5%). These voluntary contributions are different from mandatory contributions in that:

they can be subject to a vesting scale;
they can be withdrawn by the employee when this employee leaves his employer (i.e. they are not subject to preservation and portability).

Notice of participation

A notice given to an applicant to confirm membership of or participation in a registered scheme by the trustee of an MPF scheme within 30 days after whichever is the later of the following dates:

the date on which all the information required for the application is submitted;
the date on which the applicant agrees to comply with the governing rules of the scheme.

The notice of participation shows:

the name of the scheme;
the trustee's name and address;
the name of the scheme member or participating employer; and
the date of issue of the notice.

Terminal Illness

You may withdraw your accrued benefits if you have an illness that is likely to reduce your life expectancy to 12 months or less. You must provide a medical certificate issued by a registered medical practitioner or registered Chinese medicine practitioner stating that in the practitioner’s opinion, you have a terminal illness.

Service Hour