FAQ

(i) The Fund Information Table is a list for scheme members to view the key information of all MPF funds at a glance, including the fund performance, fees, fund risk indicator, fund size and launch date of MPF funds. This table provides filtering and sorting functions which allow scheme members to select the funds they would like to compare according to their needs (e.g. they can choose a specific MPF scheme or certain types of funds for comparison).

(ii) The Performance Chart is a graphical interactive tool for scheme members to compare the relative performance of different funds in five or 10 years. The leftmost and the rightmost sides of each bar in the chart represent the minimum and maximum returns of a fund type/fund category respectively. Scheme members can select all funds under a specific scheme or up to 10 funds across different schemes by fund type or fund category for comparing their performance.

(iii) “My Selection” allows scheme members to compare the information of different funds directly. The funds selected by scheme members (10 funds at most) will be listed side by side to enable a focused comparison of performance, fees and risk level, etc. of different funds. Furthermore, the funds selected by scheme members can be linked directly to the Performance Chart or Fund Information Table for viewing the relative performance of these funds.

Please note that scheme members should consider different factors, such as the fund’s investment objectives, fees and charges, risk level, the quality of trustees’ services and fund performance when making MPF investment decisions. They can make use of the three tools mentioned above to obtain more information and data of various funds in order to choose a suitable scheme.

As funds under the same fund type may have different features, they are further divided into different categories based on investment region or asset allocation to help scheme members assess the fund performance.

Please note that for guaranteed funds, uncategorized equity funds, uncategorized bond funds and uncategorized mixed assets funds, it may not be meaningful to directly compare their return data with that of other uncategorized funds.

For example, some of the uncategorized mixed assets funds are target date funds. As the equity exposure of these funds will be adjusted over time, it is not suitable to compare their performance with that of other categories of mixed assets funds.

Besides, the guarantees of guaranteed funds can either be conditional or unconditional. For guaranteed funds which provide conditional guarantees, scheme members should pay special attention to the guarantee or qualifying conditions of the funds. Their guaranteed return rates may not be the same as the return rates indicated in this platform.

The “Launch Date” refers to the date on which a constituent fund was first launched. Scheme members should take into account the period the fund has been made available since launch when studying the return data of the fund. They should also take note of that period when reviewing the fund size data.

The Fund Size represents the net asset value of a fund. By referring to this information, scheme members can determine whether the size of the fund in which they invest has achieved sufficient economies of scale. Scheme members should also consider other factors such as the fund’s investment objectives, fees and charges, risk level, the quality of trustees’ services and fund performance when making MPF investment decisions.

The Annualized Return indicates the average yearly return of a fund over a given investment period. Please refer to Section B of the Performance Presentation Standards for MPF Investment Funds for details on the calculation of the Annualized Return.

The Cumulative Return reflects the return of a fund accumulated over the same investment period concerned.

Members can make reference to both the Cumulative Return and the Annualized Return when reviewing the performance of a fund. Generally speaking, the Cumulative Return gives members an idea about the actual total return of a fund over a given period of time and is a suitable indicator for one-off investments. As the Annualized Return takes into account the factors of investment period and compounding effect, it gives a reasonable representation of the actual investment return accumulated with time. Besides, the Annualized Return allows members to make objective comparisons with certain indicators that only provide annualized benchmarks, such as inflation rates and bank interest rates.

It must be emphasized that past performance information may not be a reliable guide to the future performance.

The Fund Risk Indicator shows the risk level of an MPF fund by a numerical value. The greater the value, the higher the risk of a fund. In fact, all Fund Fact Sheets provide information on the risk levels of different funds to help scheme members identify the degrees of risk of various funds and gauge their own risk tolerance level before making investment decisions.

The risk of a fund is important because a research suggests that there is a tradeoff between risk and investment return. A fund with higher risk tends to show greater volatility of return than a low risk fund. It also has the potential to offer higher expected return than a low risk fund. Its downside potential increases similarly.

The Fund Risk Indicator is shown as an annualized standard deviation based on the monthly rates of return of each fund over the past three years. Please refer to Section C of the Performance Presentation Standards for MPF Investment Funds for details on the calculation of the Fund Risk Indicator.

Risk Class is assigned to each Constituent Fund with reference to a seven-point risk classification scale. The seven risk classes are divided according to the volatility intervals of the Fund Risk Indicator of a Constituent Fund as shown below.

7-point Risk Class Classification

Risk Class	Fund Risk Indicator
	Equal or above	Less than
1	0.0%	0.5%
2	0.5%	2.0%
3	2.0%	5.0%
4	5.0%	10.0%
5	10.0%	15.0%
6	15.0%	25.0%
7	25.0%

Risk Class is independent of and an addition to the pre-existing risk rating scales developed with a number of different methodologies currently adopted by some MPF trustees themselves (Pre-existing Risk Scales). Unlike the Risk Class which is standardized across all trustees, schemes and Constituent Funds, these Pre-existing Risk Scales may not be comparable among different trustees or schemes.

A constituent fund may be comprised of different fund classes. The relevant data of each fund class of a constituent fund is displayed in this platform.

Some funds are classified as uncategorized funds as their features (e.g. investment region or asset allocation) differentiate them from others, making direct comparison unsuitable.

For example, some of the uncategorized mixed assets funds are target date funds. As the equity exposure of these funds will be adjusted over time, it is not suitable to compare their performance with that of other categories of mixed assets funds.

If “n.a.” is indicated under “Annualized Return” of a particular fund, it means that the constituent fund has an investment track record of less than one year. A constituent fund must have an investment track record of at least one year for its annualized return to be listed on the “Fund Information Table”.

If “n.a.” is indicated under “Cumulative return” of a particular fund, it means that the constituent fund has an investment track record of less than six months. A constituent fund must have an investment track record of at least six months for its cumulative return to be listed on the “Fund Information Table”.

If “n.a.” is indicated under “Latest FER” of a particular fund, it means that the information is not available as the constituent fund has an investment track records of less than one year, or the trustee has not yet submitted the Fund Fact Sheet to the MPFA for uploading the relevant information to the website.

If “n.a.” is indicated under “Fund Risk Indicator” of a particular fund, it means that the information is not available as the constituent fund has an investment track record of less than three years, or the trustee has not yet submitted the Fund Fact Sheet to the MPFA for uploading the relevant information to the website.

If “Trustee has not yet submitted the data” is indicated under any column, it means that the trustee has not yet submitted the data to the MPFA for uploading the relevant information to the website.

"10 Highest/ Lowest Funds" filter allows users to select 10 funds based on return or FER. Users may choose to display the 10 funds with the highest/lowest 5/10-year returns or FERs in the Fund Information Table. As it may not be meaningful to compare funds of different fund types, users can only apply "10 Highest/ Lowest Funds" filter to one fund type or multiples fund categories of one same fund type. Please note that only funds with available data of 5/10-year returns or FERs will be included under "10 Highest/ Lowest Funds" filter.

As constituent funds are launched on different dates, your selected funds may yet to have the investment return figures of five or 10 years, and the Performance Chart will only indicate those constituent funds with return figures of at least five or 10 years. If you would like to find out the annualized returns of funds for other investment periods, please go to Fund Information Table.

Please note that as the constituent funds under the Default Investment Strategy (commenced on 1 April 2017) have been launched for less than five years (except Age 65 Plus Fund and Core Accumulation Fund under HSBC Mandatory Provident Fund - SuperTrust Plus, Core Accumulation Fund under HSBC Mandatory Provident Fund - ValueChoice, Age 65 Plus Fund and Core Accumulation Fund under Hang Seng Mandatory Provident Fund - SuperTrust Plus and Core Accumulation Fund under Hang Seng Mandatory Provident Fund - ValueChoice), the return data of these funds will not be shown on the Performance Chart.

There is some time lag between changes in data in the Fund Fact Sheet and its inclusion in the platform. Scheme members should check the most recent information available from the trustees or sponsors before making any final investment decisions.

The fund performance figures shown on the MPF Fund Platform are calculated under a “point-to-point” approach to reflect the changes in fund prices from the beginning to the end of a particular investment period. A scheme member’s MPF investments are generally made by way of regular contributions in fixed amounts. Therefore, the fund performance figures shown on this Platform may not reflect the actual investment returns generated from a scheme member’s monthly contributions.

Funds under the same fund type may be overlapped on the same bar due to similar returns. Scheme members can choose a specific fund type under the “Chart for (Fund Types)” in the upper left hand corner of the Performance Chart and then select the funds again. Funds with similar returns but under different fund categories will then be shown clearly on the bars under their respective fund categories.

Management Fees are paid to the trustee, custodian, administrator, investment manager and sponsor or promotor of a scheme for providing their services to the fund. Breakdown of Management Fees provides prospective and participating scheme members with the information of the levels of fees charged by different services providers of a fund. Both Management Fees and the fee components in the Breakdown of Management Fees payable at Constituent Fund and underlying funds are disclosed on an aggregate basis in the platform.

Fee components do not add up to the Management Fees for some CFs due to various reasons, such as fee waiver, fee rebate, etc. For more details of the Breakdown of management fees, please refer to the MPF Scheme Brochure of the particular scheme.

If “0%” is indicated for any one(s) of the fee components under Breakdown of the Management Fees of a particular fund, it means that
1. the service provider does not currently charge such fee;
2. there is no such service provider; or
3. the service provider is paid by trustee or another service provider who collects the fee for it.