Michelin recently announced its much-anticipated 2025 cohort of outstanding fine dining Hong Kong restaurants. As a regular “cha chaan teng” patron, restaurants earning a Michelin Star wouldn’t usually capture Mr. MPF’s interest. However, it turns out there are several similarities—and one major difference—between earning a Michelin Star and earning MPF Ratings’ MPFR Gold Rating as an outstanding MPF scheme.
According to Michelin, no single quality determines a “starred” restaurant. Instead, it’s a combination of “the quality of the ingredients, the harmony of flavors, the mastery of techniques, the personality of the chef… and, just as importantly, consistency across the entire menu and over time.”
Clearly, MPF is not a dining establishment. But, like earning a Michelin Star, there is no single feature that determines an MPFR Gold Rating. Investment outcomes, good governance, fund choices, education and communication, and social and environmental commitment are MPF’s equivalents to Michelin’s ingredients, flavors, techniques, personality, and consistency. When these elements are successfully combined, members have a greater chance to maximize their MPF system-based retirement savings. Schemes that excel across the board earn MPF Ratings’ highest honor: the MPFR Gold Rating. But is there a cost to this excellence, or is there not?
MPFR is not affiliated with any MPF scheme sponsor or trustee, nor is it a broker offering individual advice and earning commissions. MPFR operates independently, advocating for better retirement outcomes for Hong Kong’s citizens. It provides MPF research, insights, and education, while also scrutinizing MPF schemes to ensure they deliver value-for-money to MPF’s 4.79 million members. And therein lies the missing ingredient to choosing the right MPF scheme: value-for-money.
Contrary to what many believe, the MPF system is NOT expensive. However, MPF Ratings assesses MPF schemes not on fees alone but in the context of the services and quality they provide. Low fees do not automatically translate into better outcomes. In fact, some of the lowest-cost MPF schemes are not Gold-rated. What Gold-rated schemes have in common is their ability to deliver outstanding value-for-money.
Think of MPF Ratings’ MPFR Gold-rated schemes as Michelin-starred MPF schemes that cost little more than a “cha chaan teng.” In Mr. MPF’s mind—and stomach—that’s true value-for-money. Is your MPF scheme Gold-rated? Does it deliver value-for-money?
Find out who made our Gold Rated MPF Scheme list below:
