KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has launched its annual qualifying list of fund administration establishments (FMIs) and unit trust funds beneath the EPF Members Investment Scheme (EPF MIS) efficient yesterday.
The EPF mentioned for the 2022/2023 interval, a complete of 346 funds from 19 FMIs had been authorized beneath EPF MIS, of which 202 funds are certified to be provided to EPF members.
Of the funds certified, 159 funds (78.7%) are native funds, of which 80 funds (50.3%) are fairness funds.
Chief funding officer Rohaya Mohammad Yusof mentioned these funds had been evaluated yearly based mostly on EPF’s established standards authorized by the Ministry of Finance.
For 2022, she famous that EPF had elevated the minimal eligibility rating of Simple Average Consistent Return (SACR) from 2.33 to three.00 for funds beneath the EPF MIS, and 4.00 for brand new trust funds, including that the SACR is computed based mostly on the EPF’s combination efficiency over a three-year analysis interval utilizing Lipper Rating for Consistent Return, Bernama reported.
“These funds must exceed the benchmark relative performance, and by increasing the SACR score, we are able to ensure that not only are they performing funds, but they also outperformed their peers.
“Any unit trust fund which falls below the minimum eligibility score will be suspended from offering during this period,” she mentioned in a press release yesterday.
Under the EPF MIS, the provident fund mentioned members are given the choice to take a position as much as 30% of the quantity in extra of their EPF Account 1 financial savings with the FMIs, together with unit trust administration corporations and asset administration corporations, through the EPF MIS, relying on their eligibility based mostly on the fundamental financial savings quantum.
To assist members aged 55 and above make knowledgeable selections and at a diminished value, members are inspired to utilise the EPF’s self-service i-Invest platform, which may be accessed by means of i-Akaun, EPF mentioned.
“The features in i-Invest would help members to compare different unit trust funds offered by the FMIs, monitor their investment funds through their i-Akaun, and look up information on cost of investment, historical performance, as well as required statutory information,” it mentioned.
Further, Rohaya shared that the important thing aspect of i-Invest is that preliminary gross sales costs are low because the EPF has enforced a most cap of 0.5%, in comparison with the present 3% for offline and conventional transactions by means of brokers.
“Beginning March 26, 2022, members are able to utilise the new features on the i-Invest platform.
“The investment simulator helps members to plan their investments and the fund performance benchmark helps members to compare the selected funds’ performance against the funds’ Lipper benchmark performance,” she added.
However, EPF mentioned members are suggested to train warning when making any funding determination and search the correct data or skilled recommendation earlier than committing to any transactions.
“Members may consult the EPF’s Retirement Advisory Service at any EPF branches nationwide before participating in MIS.
“While EPF has approved these funds, it does not endorse or recommend individual funds for members to invest in,” it mentioned.
