Retirement scheme aims to double membership

KUALA LUMPUR: Private Pension Administractor ( PPA) Malaysia is confident of doubling its private retirement schemes ( PRS) membership base by end- 2014 on the back of its second phase marketing campaign.

PPA is the central administrator for the voluntary PRS, providing each member with lifetime account management and ongoing member services.

“The response has been really good. Currently, we have about 85,000 members and we are looking at 150,000 by year- end,” said PPA Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Steve Ong.

“The second phase, which has started, will be over by year- end, and then we will start the third phase.

“Our awareness level is very high at above 25 per cent, which is good. We are looking at shooting above 30 per cent by the end of this year,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Malaysian Financial Planning Council’s 10th annual general meeting here yesterday.

Ong said more Malaysians need to ensure their financial security in their post- employment years.

The PRS was launched in July 2012 by the government to encourage Malaysians to voluntarily increase their retirement savings.

Ong said this year PPA Malaysia is looking at the youth segment — those under the age of 30 — as the priority target for the PRS market.

“We want to see the younger generation start saving early to prevent them from facing the retirement income issues affecting the older generation now.

“If you stop working today, can you afford to live the way you were living? If you can’t, you have to do something about it,” explained Ong.

He expressed confidence that with adequate campaigns, roadshows and education on PRS, the youth segment, which currently stands at 13 per cent compared to eight per cent last year, would grow. — Bernama