Money Moves Brand attributes benefit MPF scheme members by Jacky Wong To enhance employees' confidence that their retirement savings are being well invested for happy and stable retirements, MPF scheme service providers expend a lot of energy on branding and upgrading customer services. Leading MPF service provider, Bank Consortium Trust Company Limited (BCT), has recently launched a new branding campaign themed around "honey", with the tagline "Leverage our combined strengths to plan your future", to highlight its business strengths. With 500,000 members, BCT has become one of the top five MPF service providers in Hong Kong, occupying about eight per cent share of the MPF market. Lau Ka-shi, managing director and CEO of BCT, says with the implementation of the MPF scheme more employers have been made aware of their obligations in assisting their employees in MPF enrolment. However, employees are often unaware of the services that their MPF service provider is capable of offering. "Unlike other MPF service providers which have banking and insurance businesses, BCT specialises in the MPF business. While our employer clients know our services better, we would like our clients and the general public to have an understanding of our MPF branding attributes, "Ms Lau says. She adds that BCT marketing strategies have taken a twist from their initial presence in the market in 1999. During those formative years prior to the establishment of its brand awareness, the company focused on brand building. More emphasis has been plated on technology and customer-service enhancements in order to cater to the needs of the customers and the increase in special voluntary contributions. Ms lau adds that with the higher staff turnover rate in Hong Kong during the current economic boom, BCT also focuses on providing more benefits to retain its "preserved" members and reinforcing investment education to clients. BCT manages assets worth over HK$21 billion, providing dedicated and professional trustees, scheme and fund administration and custodian services. To maximise investment returns, the company applies a "multi-manager" investment approach to individual constituent funds that can help achieve risk diversification and consistent optimal investment returns. In 2007 the Bank Consortium Global Bond Fund, one of the constituent funds of its master trust scheme, won the "Best Fund over Three Years — Bond Global" award for the second consecutive year in the Hong Kong Lipper Fund Awards. Ms Lau says, "Though the MPF market has been stable, competition still remains fierce and key service providers are keen on providing better customer service and more member benefits to compete for a higher market share." Accordingly, she foresees the emergence of many new investment products and electronic communication channels to cater for retirement-planning needs. Taken from Career Times 22 June 2007, p. A2 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]