Date: 24 Sep 2019
EPF Looks Towards A Digital Future With i‑Invest

EPF LOOKS TOWARDS A DIGITAL FUTURE WITH i‑INVEST

Self-service online platform is EPF’s latest offering in series of disruption efforts

 

KUALA LUMPUR, 24 September 2019: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) today launched its latest innovative offering, i-Invest, as part of ongoing efforts to deliver value to members in this era of digitalisation.

The self-service online platform is accessible within the Members section of i-Akaun and enables eligible members to directly invest a portion of their Account 1 savings into unit trust funds offered by EPF-approved Fund Management Institutions (FMIs).

In his speech to more than 60 FMI representatives, EPF Chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman said, “This new era with its push for constant innovation has given the EPF the opportunity to disrupt the financial industry and transform our ways in order to give better value to our members.

“The i-Invest not only enables eligible members to self-manage their own unit trust funds, it also empowers them with the information to access, analyse, monitor and transact online, effectively providing the opportunity to increase their investing literacy.”

With the launch of i-Invest, the EPF is now the first retirement fund in the world to link members’ retirement funds to online investment services. The beta version of i-Invest was released on 19 August, and within a month, nearly 2,500 members have transacted a total value of RM32 million. 

Tan Sri Samsudin emphasised that for the EPF to effectively carry out its mission to secure a resilient future for members, it has to be agile, embrace change, and self-disrupt its ways of working.

Chief Executive Officer Tunku Alizakri Alias echoed that in recent years, digital technology has had a largely positive impact on how people invest as they are enabled by the rich resource of information that is easily available through the Internet.  

“We developed i-Invest to empower our members to take charge of their financial future with tools that will allow them to make informed decisions, starting with their unit trust investments,” he said.

“With these tools, members can track and monitor their investments, and understand which of the investments available best meet their needs. This is an important advantage in today’s increasingly volatile and challenging financial markets.”

Tunku Alizakri revealed that i-Invest would directly impact over 2.3 million eligible EPF members, and that the availability of investing information on the platform was in line with the Malaysian National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2019-2023. “Educating the public means also that the EPF must be willing to open access to the tools and resources to enable greater and faster learning. 

“To encourage financial literacy among our members, we must first give them the freedom and flexibility to independently manage their own investments.”

 

About the Employees Provident Fund (EPF)

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is Malaysia’s premier retirement savings fund to help its members achieve adequate savings for a comfortable retirement. This is in line with EPF’s vision to help members achieve a better future and the mission to safeguard members’ savings and deliver excellent services. The EPF has evolved significantly from transaction-centric to a professional fund management organisation with a strong focus on retirement security. The EPF is guided by a robust and professional governance framework when making investment decisions. It continues to play a catalytic role in the nation’s economic growth and seeks to cultivate a savings and investment culture among its members to improve the country’s financial literacy level.

 

APPENDIX
OTHER FEATURES OF i-INVEST

  • EPF i-Invest allows members aged 55 and below the option to transfer an eligible portion of their savings in Account 1 and invest directly into unit trusts offered by EPF-approved Fund Management Institutions (FMIs).
  • Members may transfer from their EPF Account 1 up to 30% of the amount in excess of Basic Savings, to be invested in the qualified funds.
  • Members can also open an account to invest in unit trust funds with any FMI.
  • Members aged 55 and above can also utilise i-Invest using Akaun 55 or Akaun Emas through i-Akaun as a mode of withdrawal, subject to maintaining a minimum of RM1,000 in their account.
  • The EPF has placed a maximum cap of 0.5% initial sales charge going to FMIs, compared to the current 3% for offline and traditional transactions through agents.