What DIS Is: Automatic De-risking From Age 50
The Default Investment Strategy (DIS) is a mechanism mandated by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) for scheme members who have never actively selected their own funds. If you have never made an active fund choice since joining your scheme, your contributions are automatically managed under DIS.
DIS is made up of two funds:
| Fund | Higher-risk asset (mainly global equities) allocation |
|---|---|
| Core Accumulation Fund | about 60% |
| Age 65 Plus Fund | about 20% |
Before age 50, all contributions go into the Core Accumulation Fund. Starting at age 50, DIS automatically shifts a portion of assets from the Core Accumulation Fund into the Age 65 Plus Fund each year, until age 64, when all assets sit in the Age 65 Plus Fund. In other words, as you age, DIS automatically reduces your equity allocation from about 60 percent to about 20 percent. Management fees and recurrent expenses are also capped, at 0.75 percent and 0.2 percent of net asset value per year respectively.
How Was This Plan Designed? The Average-Member Logic
The design rationale behind DIS makes sense: for members who have never had the time or interest to actively manage their MPF, it provides a safety net that requires no decisions — pursue growth while young, and shift automatically toward stability as retirement approaches. For a typical member, this logic works well.
But typical is the key word. The DIS age schedule is built on an average-member assumption: that you will retire around age 65, that your MPF is a primary source of retirement funding, and that you have no particular personal circumstances to factor in. This one-size-fits-all schedule does not account for the size of your MPF balance, your other assets, or when you actually plan to stop working.
3 Things High Earners Should Consider
-
1
How much of your overall retirement portfolio does your MPF represent?
If you already hold property, savings-linked insurance, or other investment portfolios, your MPF may be only one part of your retirement funding. DIS begins reducing risk at age 50 on the assumption that your MPF is your primary retirement resource — if that is not the case for you, this de-risking schedule may be too early and too conservative.
-
2
Do you actually plan to draw down your MPF at 65?
The DIS schedule assumes you will begin drawing on your MPF around retirement age. But many high earners plan to keep working past 65, or have other ongoing income sources — meaning the point at which they actually draw on their MPF could be well beyond 65. If that describes you, your effective investment horizon is longer than DIS assumes.
-
3
DIS only looks at this one MPF account — it does not know your full financial picture
The automatic adjustment mechanism in DIS operates only within this MPF account. It does not take into account the risk level of your other assets. Unless you actively seek advice, no one is looking at your MPF alongside your other assets to judge whether your overall risk exposure is right for you.
So What Should You Do?
This article is not suggesting you should leave DIS, or recommending any specific fund — whether DIS suits you depends on your actual financial situation, risk tolerance, and retirement timeline, which is a personal judgment call this article cannot make for you.
But it is worth knowing this: DIS is designed for the average case, and it does not automatically adjust for your personal circumstances. If your income, asset mix, or retirement plans differ meaningfully from the average member, it is worth periodically reviewing whether this one-size-fits-all de-risking schedule still suits you.
This is exactly the distinction IPP has always emphasized: most providers help you pick a fund once and consider the job done — very few continuously monitor whether your MPF allocation still suits you. IPP offers a continuous MPF investment advisory service that is rare in the market — using technical analysis to keep monitoring your allocation, and proactively notifying you when market conditions or your personal circumstances change, rather than treating a one-time fund selection as the finish line.
Want to see how your current allocation compares with other options? Use our Fund Comparison tool to review return performance across fund categories. Want to know how much your MPF actually contributes to closing your retirement gap? Use our Retirement Calculator to find out in 3 minutes.
Source: Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) official Default Investment Strategy page (Core Accumulation Fund approximately 60 percent higher-risk assets, Age 65 Plus Fund approximately 20 percent higher-risk assets, automatic annual adjustment from age 50, management fee cap of 0.75 percent and recurrent expense cap of 0.2 percent), cross-checked against official DIS pages published by multiple trustees (including HSBC, Manulife, and BOC-Prudential). This article is general educational content, does not constitute investment advice, and does not recommend any specific fund. Investment involves risk, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Please refer to the latest MPFA publications (mpfa.org.hk) and your own MPF statement for actual arrangements, and consult a licensed advisor.