EPF revises list of unit trust funds

O 189 approved for investment by members for 2024/2025

KWASA DAMANSARA: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has revised the qualified list of unit trust funds under the EPF Members Investment Scheme (EPF MIS), effective from April 1.

Under the EPF MIS, there are 296 approved funds from 18 Fund Management Institutions (FMIs).

Based from the annual evaluation as at December 31, 2023, 189 funds met the minimum qualifying criteria and are qualified to be offered to EPF members for 2024/2025 offering period.

Of the qualified funds, 151 funds, or 79.9%, are local funds; 107 funds (56.6%) are equity funds; and 76 funds (40.2%) are shariah funds.

“The EPF continues to provide option and flexibility for qualified members to explore wider investment opportunities through EPF-appointed fund management institutions,” EPF chief investment officer Rohaya Mohammad Yusof said.

“This scheme enables qualified members to diversify a portion of their EPF Account 1 funds into qualified unit trust funds offered for investments in local and global markets to enhance their retirement savings.

“The list includes sustainable and responsible investment-based (SRI) unit trust funds to play a role in driving sustainable investment agenda at the EPF as we empower members to make informed investment decisions through a wide range of funds,” she added.

The funds approved under the EPF MIS are evaluated annually based on EPF’s established criteria approved by the Ministry of Finance.

The two qualifying criteria for funds evaluation includes the consistency of performance and its relative performance against benchmark.

The qualifying threshold set for these criteria are reviewed from time to time in order to ensure only funds with the highest quality are listed.

Under EPF MIS, members are given the option to invest with the FMIs up to 30% of the amount in excess of their EPF Account 1 savings.

This includes investing with unit trust management companies and private mandate companies, depending on their eligibility based on the basic savings quantum.

“Since the launch of the i-Invest platform in 2019, around RM2.5 billion has been transacted as at December 2023,” said Rohaya.

“The EPF encourages more members to take advantage of the i-Invest facility following enhancements to the platform made early this year that enabled transactions for private mandate portfolios.

“The enhancements allow members to transact approved private mandate portfolios, in addition to qualified unit trust funds offered currently, on the i-Invest platform.”

She added that the private mandate portfolios and unit trust funds under the EPF MIS provided flexibility for members to delegate their investments to professional asset managers based on their individual investment objectives, preferences and risk tolerance.

Members can easily transact through i-Invest where the initial sales charge payable by members to FMIs is capped at 0.5% per buy transaction.

Members are advised to exercise caution when making any investment decision and seek the right information or professional advice before committing to any transactions.

They may consult the EPF’s Retirement Advisory Service, available at any EPF branch nationwide, prior to participating in MIS.

While EPF has approved these funds, it neither endorses nor recommends any individual fund for members to invest in.