2% fee to oversee EPF savings MD: Amanah Raya a more practical choice for trustee than family

KUALA LUMPUR: Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) members who nominate Amanah Raya Bhd as the nominee, administrator or trustee to oversee their savings will be charged a 2% fee of the total amount.

Amanah Raya Bhd group managing director Adenan Md Yusof said most EPF members would want their immediate family members, especially their children, to become nominees.

“But sometimes, when they (EPF contributors) pass away at a very young age, their children are underage and they cannot become the nominee.

“To me, the best thing to do is to avoid such a situation. They should appoint Amanah Raya as their nominee instead of their children,” Adenan told reporters after attending a corruption-free pledge ceremony here yesterday.

Last Thursday, the EPF Board unveiled several key initiatives, including an option for members to choose Amanah Raya as the nominee, administrator or trustee to their EPF savings with effect from Jan 1.

The retirement fund said the appointment of Amanah Raya would enable faster and equitable distribution of the members’ savings to the next of kin upon their demise.

This new option is in addition to members’ existing rights to appoint any individual as their nominee.

“As we have agreed with EPF, we are charging a 2% flat rate for EPF contributors when it comes to estate administration.

“This is different from the tiered system of the services we are cirrently offering,” said Adenan.

Presently, Amanah Raya charges an estate administration fee based on a multi-tiered system, ranging from 1% to 5%.

A 5% fee will be charged for the first RM25,000, 4% for the next remaining balance up to RM225,000, 3% for the next remaining balance up to RM250,000, 2% for the remaining balance up to RM500,000 and 1% for any remaining balance.

However, said Adenan, Amanah Raya was not forcing EPF members to nominate it.

“We simply think it is good to nominate us as it can help avoid cases such as the nomination being cancelled due to the nominees being underage and other issues,” he said.

On the corruption-free pledge, Amanah Raya chairman Tan Sri Sabbaruddin Chik said the prog­ramme was aimed at enhancing the sense of responsibility of the management team and the staff to fight against graft.