Sun Life’s Rainbow MPF Scheme was named the MPF Scheme of the Year at last night’s 2018 MPF Awards gala ceremony. Sun Life beat traditional industry heavyweights to win the coveted title while three time MPF Scheme of the Year winner, Fidelity, was also a big winner, taking out the awards for Best Communication and Education, and Best Member Servicing while retaining its Gold Rating for the 6th consecutive year.
While announcing Sun Life Rainbow as the 2018 MPF Scheme of the Year winner, MPF Ratings’ Chairman, Francis Chung (叢川普), praised Sun Life’s efforts in producing peerless returns for its members. “Over several years Sun Life Rainbow has generated consistently outstanding results. This year, the relative performance difference across multiple fund categories and time horizons made Sun Life’s Rainbow MPF Scheme a worthy winner of MPF Ratings’ 2018 MPF Scheme of the Year”.
Collecting the award on behalf of Sun Life, Ms Belinda Luk (陸季嬋女士), General Manager, Wealth & Pensions, Sun Life Hong Kong Limited thanked the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) and co-hosts of the event, Asia Asset Management and MPF Ratings, “For the past decade Sun Life has been diligently applying our experience and expertise, to make MPF a palatable retirement option for the Hong Kong workforce. We are gratified that our effort is being recognised by the professionals, MPF Ratings. This will support our relentless debut to deepen our commitment for the overall betterment of Hong Kong’s working class.”
In other major award categories, Manulife was announced as the 2018 Best New Innovation winner for creating the MPF industry’s first digitally sustainable member engagement tool, the “ec-Work” app; and Bank Consortium Trust’s (MPF) Pro Choice was named 2018’s most improved MPF scheme, taking out the Rising Star winner award.
Last night’s gala evening also saw the awarding of the inaugural MPF Ratings’ Socially Responsible awards; to Manulife for their support for the sensitive, but essential, need for organ donations; to AIA for utilizing MPF as an incentive for employers to employ people with disabilities; and HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Asia) Limited for investing in the education of cross-border staff employed in MPF related roles.
Speaking as the guest of honour at last night’s gala event, MPFA Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Executive Director Cheng Yan-chee (鄭恩賜) commended the winners for putting in exceptional efforts to enhance MPF products and services which had benefited scheme members.
Cheng said that good governance was particularly important for a mandatory private pension system like the MPF. “Therefore, MPF trustees must assume a fundamental role in protecting scheme members’ interests and delivering ‘value for money’ outcomes, so that members can have a basic level of retirement protection,” he added.
In closing the evening Chung offered all guests a timely reminder, “MPF should be focused on long-term value for money not short term volatility and through the awards, and ongoing public scrutiny, the industry continues to improve their offerings. The ultimate beneficiaries are the people of Hong Kong”.
About the 2018 MPF Awards
The 2018 MPF Awards celebrate the success and contributions of major industry stakeholders and culminate with announcement of the Best New Innovation, Rising Star and the MPF Scheme of the Year Awards. The Award Ceremony is co-hosted by Asia Asset Management magazine, an independent investment management trade journal, and MPF Ratings, an independent provider of research, views and opinions on pension-related matters. In Hong Kong, MPF Ratings is renowned for its evaluation of MPF schemes through its proprietary Gold, Silver and Bronze ratings.
View further details of all the award categories and the winners
