At the beginning of the year, the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association IFA commissioned a paper to develop an optimal model on retirement income policy for the Territory, which on present trends faces a nightmare of demographic ageing. The Mandatory Provident Fund MPF system implemented in 2001 is widely viewed as a reasonable start, but totally insufficient to allow most Hong Kongers to retire in dignity and financial security.
The paper, done by the Gadbury Group, led by principal Jeremy Gadbury and fellow consultant Alan Taylor, provided a comprehensive blueprint of the fundamental changes necessary to meet the IFA's objectives. Subsequent interviews with fund management executives involved with the IFA...