KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 19): Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members can now invest in unit trust funds offered by EPF-approved fund management institutions (FMIs) through the self-service i-Invest online platform within the i-Akaun (Member) portal.

In a statement today, the pension fund said for members below 55 years old, investment can be funded directly from the eligible portion of members’ savings under Account 1, with a sales charge ranging from zero to 0.5% of the transaction amount.

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. Members can also open an account to invest in unit trust funds with any FMI through this new facility.

Members aged 55 and above, meanwhile, can utilise i-Invest using Akaun 55 or Akaun Emas through i-Akaun as a mode of withdrawal, subject to maintaining a minimum of RM1,000 in their account.

EPF CEO Tunku Alizakri Alias said a key element of the online investment facility is that sales charges are now practically free, as the EPF has enforced a maximum cap of 0.5%, compared with the current 3% for offline and traditional transactions through agents.

“To ensure (members) are as informed as possible, i-Invest contains tools to obtain and compare relevant information, and enables the right selection of unit trust funds that best suits our members’ savings goals," said Alizakri.

He added that the EPF is believed to be the first pension fund in the world to directly link members’ retirement funds to online investment services.

"i-Invest provides greater flexibility, functionality and convenience for members to invest, transact and monitor their unit trusts investment anytime and anywhere.

"It also enables members to compare different unit trust funds offered by the FMIs, monitor their investment funds through their i-Akaun, and look up information on cost of investment, historical performance, as well as required statutory information," Alizakri said.

He also said the EPF has strict guidelines for FMIs to comply with, in order to safeguard the integrity of the scheme and the interest of participating members, as well as to ensure that FMIs carry out their duties diligently and responsibly.

For the period of 2019/2020, a total of 389 funds from various categories, namely equity, mixed assets, bond, money market and property trusts, were approved under the EPF Members Investment Scheme.