12 June 2016
Employers encouraged to use PRS for building a retirement-ready workforce
Kuala Lumpur: CIMB-Principal Asset Management Sdn. Bhd. (“CIMB-Principal”) launched its Online Portal for corporate PRS plan sponsors in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Through this portal, employers and HR personnel will be able to submit their PRS contribution file, payment slip and list of staff resignations online. This was launched during its second annual Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) conference for its valued and potential corporate plan sponsors. Themed “Reward and Retain Your Talents”, the conference aims to create awareness among employers to utilise PRS as a tool to attract, retain as well as to enrich employees’ lives.
Munirah Khairuddin, Chief Executive Officer of CIMB-Principal said, “The Online Portal for corporate PRS plan sponsors will enable companies to update their company and PRS profile to ensure that their information remains current. It eliminates much of the manual effort and paperwork involved in updating employees’ records, thus helping companies’ HR departments achieve better efficiency and data accuracy.”
On the role of PRS in shaping the Malaysian retirement landscape, Munirah said, “Today, more than ever, employers play an integral role in shaping the retirement landscape of their employees in the country. Every employee would like to have a good retirement, but not many are aware on how to achieve it. Employers can help their staff achieve their retirement goals through PRS, without incurring additional cost. There’s so much that employers can do to help their staff and one of it is by providing an employer-based voluntary retirement scheme to secure their employees future. Employer-based voluntary retirement programmes have proven to be successful globally, just like the 401k scheme in the US.”
“To date, we have more than 105 corporate clients with 11,000 employees on payroll deduction contributing to PRS on a monthly basis. Many corporates are also opting to pay additional rewards and incentives into employees PRS fund. This is very encouraging and we hope that more employers will use PRS as a tool in enhancing their employees’ retirement savings,” Munirah added.
At the Corporate PRS Conference, local industry and international experts imparted their knowledge and exchange ideas on the latest trends on the retirement landscape across different markets globally. The conference was attended by over 150 guests ranging from corporates and regulators. Local and international industry experts also shared their experience and valuable insights with corporate PRS plan sponsors at the conference.
Munirah added, “As Malaysia is expected to reach the ageing population status by 2035 with 15% of its total population aged 60 years and older, it is even more crucial to change employees’ mindset on retirement and the urgency for additional savings; to help sustain their lifestyle beyond their working years. We will continue to intensify our retirement awareness and education on a nationwide scale; educating employers and employees that PRS is a viable alternative long-term investment initiative designed to help employees accumulate savings towards their desired retirement lifestyle. Employers also play an important role to encourage their employees to participate or increase their contributions into PRS to enhance their retirement savings.”
CIMB-Principal is currently one of the largest PRS providers in Malaysia with RM270 million in assets under management (AUM), equivalent to 23% of the market share as at 30 April 2016. Malaysia’s PRS net asset value has recently crossed the RM1 billion mark since its first introduction in 2013. The industry now has about RM1.2 billion in AUM and almost 190,000 PRS members.
