A few days ago, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has launched its i-Invest platform which allows its members to invest in unit trust funds with their EPF savings. The great thing about this platform is that it is almost zero cost.
With this platform, members can invest with a sales charge ranging from 0% to a maximum of 0.5% of the transaction amount. As a comparison, offline and traditional transactions through agents are usually charged at 3%.
The conditions for investing via i-Invest are under the Members Investment Scheme. 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. The platform is very user-friendly and there is a lot of information given regarding each fund.
For members aged 55 and above, they can also use i-Invest using Akaun 55 or Akaun Emas through i-Akaun as a mode of withdrawal. It is also subject to a minimum balance of RM1,000 in their account.
EPF has strict guidelines for Fund Management Institutions (FMI) to safeguard the integrity of the scheme and the interest of participating members. There is a total of 389 funds from various categories (equity, mixed assets, bond, money market, and property trust) that were approved under the EPF Members Investment Scheme for the period of 2019/2020.
You can get started by logging in to your i-Akaun, then click on the “Investment” tab at the top.
Alexiares' comment on i-Invest:
Do not rush in to invest in this platform. Do your due diligence to make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into. Do note that while it is possible for you to get higher returns from investing at those private funds, it is possible to for you to lose money.
The sales charges range from 0% to 0.5% of the transaction amount. So, if you are investing RM10,000, you will be paying RM50 for the sales charges. And remember that when you sell the investment, you will be charged again. So, if you made RM 1,000 after a certain period of time, you would be paying RM 55 for the sales charges.
Personally, I would not touch my EPF accounts and let it reap the benefit of an average of 6% given by EPF. So, if you are not willing to take the risk, don't try this.
Alexiares' comment on i-Invest:
Do not rush in to invest in this platform. Do your due diligence to make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into. Do note that while it is possible for you to get higher returns from investing at those private funds, it is possible to for you to lose money.
The sales charges range from 0% to 0.5% of the transaction amount. So, if you are investing RM10,000, you will be paying RM50 for the sales charges. And remember that when you sell the investment, you will be charged again. So, if you made RM 1,000 after a certain period of time, you would be paying RM 55 for the sales charges.
Personally, I would not touch my EPF accounts and let it reap the benefit of an average of 6% given by EPF. So, if you are not willing to take the risk, don't try this.
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