KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has implemented a series of product and policy enhancements to fortify the retirement future and income security of its members and potential members.
In a statement today, it said the government's maximum matching incentive limit for the i-Saraan programme has been raised from RM300 to RM500 per year starting Jan 1.
Malaysians under 60, working in the informal sector or self-employed without a fixed income, who voluntarily contribute to i-Saraan, will get a 15 per cent matching incentive on their contributions, capped at a maximum of RM500 per year.
"The government will also continue to give incentives to every i-Saraan participant who contributes, subject to a maximum lifetime incentive of RM5,000.
"For the i-Suri programme, the government will provide a matching incentive of 50 per cent on every RM1 voluntary contribution by housewives who are under the age of 55 and registered in the e-Kasih database, subject to a maximum incentive limit of RM300 per year.
"The government will also continue to provide incentives to every i-Suri participant who contributes subject to a maximum lifetime incentive of RM3,000," the statement read.
The EPF said that it has strategically separated its Simpanan Konvensional and Simpanan Shariah portfolios concerning Shariah-compliant investments.
This move aims to optimise the long-term returns for each portfolio, allowing them to have independent strategic asset allocations starting from Jan 1.
"It is also a proactive move to ensure that assets under both Simpanan Shariah and Simpanan Konvensional are well diversified across asset classes, markets, countries, and currencies to ensure sustainable returns.
"In addition to adhering to ethical investment practices that avoid sectors such as alcohol, gambling, adult entertainment, and military weapons, Simpanan Shariah employs a rigorous Shariah screening process and appropriate Shariah contracts in its investment.
"This process, based on criteria and policies set by the EPF's Shariah Advisory Committee (SAC), ensures that all investment assets are in line with Shariah principles," it added.
It said the enhancements allow members to transact approved private mandate portfolios, in addition to approved unit trust funds currently, on the i-Invest platform.
Before this, members were only able to buy, sell, or switch approved private mandate portfolios through agents.
"In contrast to unit trust funds, private mandate portfolios are investment instruments that can be customised to align closely with a member's specific objectives, needs, and risk tolerance, managed professionally by authorised fund management institutions (FMIs).
"The EPF has also included ESG-based investment products in the list of approved investments to support Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) products and to mainstream EPF's sustainability agenda.
"Initial sales charges for investments into ESG-based investment products conducted through i-Invest are low."
The EPF said that the i-Invest web and mobile application now individually names and displays private mandate portfolios, replacing the previous generic categorisation.
"On the i-Invest web, additional pages provide information on private mandate portfolios, including factsheets and investment management agreements.
"Moreover, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) tags on the i-Invest web help identify Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) products offered by authorised FMIs.