KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) saw the amount withdrawn under its Flexible Age 55 Withdrawal facility jump 42.55% to RM2.68 billion in the first quarter of this year (1Q15) from RM1.88 billion a year ago.

In a statement yesterday, the country’s largest retirement fund said this stemmed from the 77,865 applications approved in 1Q15, a 37.37% increase from 56,681 applications in 1Q14.

Under the Flexible Age 55 Withdrawal scheme, members can vary the frequency and withdrawal amount according to their needs as opposed to a lump-sum withdrawal.

In 1Q15, the fund also approved 133,351 applications for members participating in the EPF Members’ Investment Scheme (EPF-MIS), a 56.65% increase from 85,129 applications in 1Q14.

The scheme allows members to transfer part of their savings in Account 1 for investments in approved unit trust funds through fund management institutions, offering them the option to enhance their retirement savings.

As at Dec 31, 2014, the total number of trust funds approved under the EPF-MIS was 336, of which 230 funds were qualified to be offered.

The number of EPF members, meanwhile, also rose 2.45% to 14.29 million in 1Q15 from 13.95 million in 1Q14.

“Out of the total, 6.69 million are active members who continue to contribute to their retirement savings. During 1Q15, a total of 20,463 new employers were registered, increasing the total number of employers to 535,380,” the provident fund said.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 26, 2015.