5 March 2018
The following highlights are from Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo’s speech during the FY2018 Committee of Supply Debate in Parliament on 5 March 2018.
Enhancements to CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS)
Three enhancements will be made to better cater CPFIS to members who have the knowledge and time to invest and are prepared to take investment risk.
1. Introduction of Self-Awareness Questionnaire
A Self-Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ) will be introduced as part of the process of opening a CPFIS account from 1 October 2018. The SAQ is to help CPF members decide whether CPFIS is suitable for them by providing them with feedback on their level of basic financial knowledge.
Members can participate in the CPFIS after taking the SAQ, regardless of the results. CPF members who already have a CPFIS account are not required to but are still strongly encouraged to take the SAQ.
2. Removal of sales charge for products offered under CPFIS
3. Reduction of maximum wrap fee chargeable on CPFIS investments
To give the financial industry adequate time to adjust, the following fee changes will be implemented in two phases:
Schedule for CPFIS Fee Changes
|
Current
|
1 October 2018
|
1 October 2019
|
Sales charge
(for new CPFIS purchases)
|
3%
|
1.5%
|
0%
|
Wrap fee
(for existing and new accounts)
|
1%
|
0.7%
|
0.4%
|
Sales charge1 are upfront fees paid to intermediaries (e.g. financial advisors, distributors) upon the purchase of funds i.e. unit trust or Investment-Linked Policies (ILPs). The sales charge will be removed progressively to reduce the cost of investing for CPFIS members. Investors can already purchase unit trusts on online platforms without paying any sales charge.
Similarly, reducing wrap fees lowers the cost of investing which may improve members’ investment returns. Wrap fees cover advisory services and the costs to maintain the wrap account. The cap on wrap fees will be lowered to align closer to fees charged by online investment platforms in the cash market.
More information
FAQs on Self-Awareness Questionnaire (PDF, 0.6MB)
FAQs on removal of sales charge (PDF, 0.6MB)
FAQs on reduction of maximum wrap fee (PDF,0.5MB)
1Sales charge can also be in the form of back-end load which is being paid at the point of redemption of units by investors.
Contact information
For more information:
Hotline: 1800-227-1188 (Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 5.30pm)
Email: Write to us
