BCT and Invesco Agreement Expected to Impact Provider Rankings
【Hong Kong, November 20, 2023】According to the MPF Market Share Report released by GUM today, the total assets of the MPF market decreased by 2.2% in October, reaching HKD 1.06 trillion. In terms of market share, Manulife continues to take the lead with a share of 27.4%, followed by HSBC (17.7%) and Sun Life (11.1%).
In terms of the YTD changes in market share among the top 10 providers, Manulife experienced the largest increase, with a growth of 0.4%, primarily driven by investment returns (increased by 0.21%). Conversely, Sun Life suffered the largest loss in market share, with a decline of 0.18%, mainly due to the drag of investment returns (with an impact of -0.36%). [Refer to Table 1 for details]
It is worth noting that BCT has reached a long-term agreement with Invesco on the MPF scheme, which came into effect on November 1st. BCT Financial Limited will become the designated scheme sponsor for the Invesco MPF scheme. This will increase BCT’s market share and bring about new changes in the ranking of MPF providers.
Table 1：Market Share of Top 10 MPF Providers YTD
| 2023 YTD Change in Market Shares | |||||
| Market Share Rank | Providers | Market Shares | Due to Net Switching | Due to Investment Return | Total change |
| 1 | Manulife | 27.4% | 0.19% | 0.21% | 0.40% |
| 2 | HSBC | 17.7% | -0.16% | 0.04% | -0.12% |
| 3 | Sun Life | 11.1% | 0.18% | -0.36% | -0.18% |
| 4 | AIA | 9.0% | -0.03% | 0.17% | 0.14% |
| 5 | BOC-Prud | 7.2% | 0.04% | 0.02% | 0.06% |
| 6 | Hang Seng | 5.8% | -0.02% | -0.04% | -0.06% |
| 7 | BCT | 5.5% | 0.02% | -0.02% | 0.00% |
| 8 | Principal | 5.5% | -0.15% | 0.06% | -0.09% |
| 9 | Fidelity | 4.3% | 0.01% | -0.05% | -0.04% |
| 10 | BEA | 2.6% | -0.03% | 0.02% | -0.01% |
There have been notable asset transfers among MPF members. In October, Bond and Money market funds saw outflows of HKD 1.11 billion, while equity funds had outflows of HKD 70 million. However, mixed-asset funds experienced inflows of HKD 1.18 billion. These changes were primarily influenced by Principal’s termination of three guaranteed funds. If members did not transfer their funds before the end of the month, the related funds would be transferred to the “MPF Conservative Fund” or the “DIS – Age 65 Plus Fund” within the same scheme, explaining the shift in funds. Despite the overall weak global market, the outflow from equity funds was relatively small, indicating some members’ continued optimism about market prospects. [Refer to Table 2 for details]
Table 2：Net Fund Switching in Major Asset Categories in October
Due to the aforementioned reasons, there were relatively significant transfers in the “Guaranteed Fund,” “MPF Conservative Fund,” and “DIS – Age 65 Plus Fund.” In October, the top five funds with net switching out were primarily the “Guaranteed Fund,” ” Mixed Asset- (>80-100% Equity) Fund,” ” Mixed Asset- (>60-80% Equity) Fund,” “Greater China Equity Fund,” and ” Mixed Asset- (>40-60% Equity) Fund”. On the other hand, the top five asset types with the highest switching in included the “MPF Conservative Fund,” “DIS – Age 65 Plus Fund,” “DIS – Core Accumulation Fund,” “US Equity Fund,” and “Global Equity Fund.” [Refer to Table 3 and Table 4 for details]
Table 3: Top Five Fund Asset Types with Net Fund Outflows in September 2023 (in million HKD)
| Rank | Asset Class | Oct 2023 |
| 1 | Guaranteed Fund | -6,850 |
| 2 | Mixed Asset- (>80-100% Equity) Fund | -557 |
| 3 | Mixed Asset- (>60-80% Equity) Fund | -477 |
| 4 | Greater China Equity Fund | -327 |
| 5 | Mixed Asset- (>40-60% Equity) Fund | -218 |
Table 4: Top Five Fund Asset Types with Net Fund Inflows in September 2023 (in million HKD)
| Rank | Asset Class | Oct 2023 |
| 1 | Conservative Fund | 5,665 |
| 2 | DIS – Age 65 Plus Fund | 2,153 |
| 3 | DIS Core Accumulation Fund | 465 |
| 4 | United States Equity Fund | 464 |
| 5 | Global Equity Fund | 153 |
GUM’s Investment and Strategic Consultant, Martin Wan, pointed out, “In October, the termination of individual plan guaranteed funds had an impact on fund switching, resulting in changes in individual asset categories. Despite the overall weakness of global stock markets from September to October, the anticipation of the interest rate cycle reaching its peak and the significant decline in US 10-year bond yields led to a rebound in market risk appetite. This could potentially attract funds to continue flowing into equity funds, particularly US/global funds and DIS.” He reminds MPF members to avoid blindly changing fund portfolios based on short-term market fluctuations and instead determine asset allocation based on risk tolerance and investment objectives.
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