Provident Fund

Overview of Provident Fund

A voluntary defined-contribution pension scheme mutually set up by employer and employees,

with an objective to promote long-term saving for retirement or work resignation. The employer and employees pay contributions to the fund which is managed by fund manager who is licensed by the SEC.
Related Parties to Provident Fund
* Remark
pf1-bg-diagram
  • Representatives of the fund
  • Appointed by employer & voted by members
  • Fiduciary duties
  • Licensed by SEC
  • Investment management of the fund
  • Approved by the SEC
  • Third-party financial institution
  • Keep custody of fund assets
  • System for contribution receipt and payment of the fund
  • Member registrar system
  • Minimum system requirement under guideline of SEC

Type of Provident Fund

  • Generally, there are two types of provident fund. A “single fund” is a provident of an employer or a group of companies or conglomerate with initial outlay of THB 100 million or more, whose fund structure and investment policies being tailored to specific needs. On the other hand, a “pooled fund” is a provident fund opened for different companies to participate and take advantage of economy of scales by pooling the money from various entities under the same pooled fund.
Single Fund
Fund size > THB 100 million Expenses Burden to the fund Decision making Independent Investment Policy Tailor made. Multiple fund choice capacity depends on fund size.
Pooled Fund
Fund size < THB 100 million Expenses Shared across employers Decision making Collective Investment Policy Can be adjusted but requires majority votes. Flexible multiple fund choice platform

Benefits

Benefits to employers
  1. Improve morale among employees
  2. Reduce the burden of the employer in paying pension which may impact cash flows
  3. Improve image of the organization
  4. Employer contribution is treated as expense of the firm and thereby providing a tax shield benefit
Benefit to the employees
  1. Receive extra income from the employer
  2. Promote savings among members
  3. Financial security in case of work resignation, retirement, or death
  4. Managed by professional fund managers
  5. Tax incentives available during membership, and upon membership termination

Pooled funds under management of UOBAM (Thailand)

Pooled funds under management of UOB Asset Management (Thailand) Co., Ltd. are Master Pooled Fund under which the fund members are allowed to select investment plan that matches with their risk appetite and retirement goal, varied by age, investment horizon, investment knowledge, expected return or acceptable risk level.
UOBAM (Thailand) offers the following master pooled funds:
  1. UOB Investor Choice Registered Provident Fund
  2. UOB Master Fund Registered Provident Fund

1. UOB Investor Choice Registered Provident Fund

A master pooled fund with carefully constructed seven pre-defined allocations to three underlying mutual funds which represent each core asset class. Fund members are able to select one of the seven investment plans, or as per the condition that the fund committee set forth in the fund regulation.
The fund won the 6th Provident Fund Award 2017 “Pooled Fund – fund size less than 10,000 Million Baht” from The Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand (SEC)
Underlying mutual funds:
  1. Thai Cash Management Fund: TCMF
    Invests in deposits and/or short-term fixed income instruments of government, state enterprise, and/or private sectors.
  2. Thai Fixed Income Fund: TFIF
    Invests in deposits and/or fixed-income instruments of government, state enterprise, and/or private sectors.
  3. Thai Equity Fund: TEF
    Invests in stocks with sound fundamentals, strong earnings, and growth potential for not less than 65% of NAV
UOB Investor Choice Registered Fund
Plan 1
Plan 2
Plan 3
Plan 4
Plan 5
Plan 6
Plan 7
Other
Fixed Income
Fixed Income 90% Equity 10%
Fixed Income 80% Equity 20%
Fixed Income 60% Equity 40%
Fixed Income 40% Equity 60%
Fixed Income 20% Equity 80%
Equity

2. UOB Master Fund Registered Provident Fund

Another master pooled fund with a variety of investment policies, which either invest directly in financial instruments or via mutual funds. The fund committee determines the investment options to be made available to the fund members, or allows the members to freely choose a desired mix of investment policies by themselves (Do It Yourself: DIY).
UOB Master Fund Registered Provident Fund
Plan 1 *
Plan 2 *
Plan 3 *
Plan 4 *
Plan 5
Plan 6
Plan 7
Plan 8
Other
Fixed
Income
(no corporate
bonds)
Fixed
Income
Mixed, Fixed Income 80% Equity 20%
Equity
Equity via UOB
Smart Dividend
Focus
Equity via
UOB Smart
Active SET
Global Allocation
via UOB Smart
Global Allocation
Alternative
Investment via
UOB Smart Gold
* Remark :
Investment Policy 1-4 = direct investment
Investment Policy 5-8 = invest through mutual funds

Consulting service on fund establishment

Provide consulting service to working team/fund committee on fund structure
Provide consulting service on planning and execution of fund registration and preparation of required documents
Provide suitability analysis in determining appropriate investment plans
Provide consulting service on fund regulation formulation to ensure that it is in accordance with related laws and aligned with the needs of employer and employees
Prepare documents and execute fund registration and filing with registrar

Provident Fund Registration

Sponsoring employer and employees who are interested in setting up provident fund may refer to the following process:

Entire registration process takes
approximately 30 days.
Choose
UOB Asset Management
Complete RFI
template and
return to UOBAM
T - 30
UOBAM received online registration
form from SEC and return related
documents to sponsoring employer for signatures
T - 25
Document signed by
authorized signatories
returned to UOBAM
T - 20
Employee communication session
provided by UOBAM
T - 15
UOBAM forward completed
documents to SEC for
approval
T - 10
Before effective date
SEC approve fund participation T = Effective date
(payroll date)
Sponsoring employer remits
1st contribution to the fund
within 3 working days after
payroll date
Contribution remittance
within 3 working days after payday

Member Education Service

  1. Provide education on provident fund basics as well as multiple fund choice training

  2. Provide education on basic investment literature, risk-return tradeoff, and investment plan selection

  3. Provide education materials to be distributed to the employees without extra charge

Online Services

Individual provident fund balance enquiry online
Investment plan switching online
 
Information updates such as economic/investment outlook online
Forms download for both fund committee and fund members

Reports for fund committee and fund members

1. Monthly Reports
  • Kor Chor 1.1 report - statement of employee and employer portions and earnings
  • Kor Chor 1.2 report – details of net asset
  • Fixed-income investment report
  • Details of member accounts
  • Monthly provident fund summary report
2. Annual Reports
  • Kor Chor 2.1 report – balance sheet
  • Kor Chor 2.2 report – income statement
  • Kor Chor 2.3 report – details of investment
  • Kor Chor 2.4 report – statement of change in net asset
  • Kor Chor 2.5 report – statement of cash flows
  • Kor Chor 2.6 report –important financial notes
3. Semi-annual and annual individual statement (for individual fund members)

Why UOBAM Provident Fund?

International Expertise
  • UOB Group support on various investment management aspects
  • UOB Group research and study
Solid foundation and excellent management
  • Active investment management
  • Good governance and rigid audit and compliance
  • Online services for individual balance enquiry as well as fund switching
Investment management team with local and international expertise
  • Proficiency in money market and capital market
  • Long-standing experience in fixed-income and equity investment
  • Pioneer in new product innovations
Fund Committee
Fund Members

Member Risk Profile

It is advisable that fund committee allow fund members to select investment policy by themselves to suit with their risk preferences which could be influenced by age, investment horizon, investment knowledge, expected return, acceptable risk level.
As a result, the Member Risk Profile is designed to assist the fund members in evaluating their risk preference and selecting the suitable investment policy. By law, this form shall be updated once every two years by the individual fund members.

UOBAM Provident fund News Update

Fund Manager Investment Views and inform from UOB Asset Management (Thailand) Company Limited

Investment Outlook




Contact Provident Fund Department

UOB Asset Management (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Contact UOBAM Provident Funds Tel : +66 2786 2000 ext. 2031 - 5
Fax : +66 2786 2371
Address 23A, 25th Floor, Asia Centre Building, 173/27-30, 31-33 South Sathon Road, Thungmahamek, Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Tel : +66 2786 2000
Interested in Provident Fund