In its 19th year, this is the fund industry’s crown jewel—an award for well-deserved and respectable MPF providers that choose disclosures over those operating in a black box. Benchmark's awards are known for their rigorous integration of consumers' perceptions with veterans' assessments to crown a winner. There is nothing like this in any part of the world. Join us today to tell your customers you deserve their business!
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The Investment Manager Awards is designed to recognize underlying managers of MPF Schemes in various asset classes and strategies for delivering sustained, consistent outperformance on a risk-adjusted basis while maintaining excellence in Benchmark's pillars. Benchmark and the buy-side community believe that investment strategies are best evaluated holistically rather than over-emphasizing past returns and risk metrics. In that light, our assessment is based on multiple facets of portfolio and risk management, and corporate strength. We see these facets as interlocking pieces forming a whole picture. Benchmark's five pillars are Investment Approach, Performance & Risk, Portfolio Management, Stewardship, and Corporate Quality.
Eligibility:
Although this program assesses investment strategies rather than funds, we ask for factsheets and other information related to the oldest share class of a flagship fund so that all candidates can be measured by the same metrics. The flagship strategy must:
- have a minimum 3 years track record
- disclose the most recent full holdings
- provide a prospectus or fact sheet
The underlying strategy submitted does not have to be an authorized fund in Hong Kong. It can be a UCITS, SICAV, etc…
3 Steps to the Title:
Step 1: – Decide which investment strategies you would like to put forward. We have listened to our hard-working contestants and decided to allow them to enter more than one fund in each category. Please consider choosing the bundle package that will enable you to enter more funds into one type than going ala carte.
Step 2: – Fill out the Multiple Choice Questionnaire to be shortlisted. Due to increasing entries yearly, we can no longer offer each fund an opportunity to the Gatekeeper Forum. To present the best of the best in front of the judges, candidates who have met the qualifying threshold will be shortlisted to enter this second round of assessment. These shortlisted candidates are determined by the quality of the answers provided in the questionnaire.
Step 3: – Shortlisted candidates who made it to the Gatekeeper Forum will complete the rest of the questionnaire, which is the text responses of the submission. Judges will score their interviews with the PM/CIO based on the criteria specified in their scorecards. This is a subjective process, and the judges will be provided with the independent financial performance provided by Morningstar and the sustainability performance by BlueOnion. This is a highly curated forum where only the PM, CIO, or Product Specialists are invited to meet the Senior Gatekeepers in person. During the 30-minute session, a panel of 3-5 jurors will ask in-depth questions along the five critical pillars for further understanding of team practices. Jurors will be provided the overall Level I and II submission and an independent report extracted from independent sources – Morningstar for the fund's financial performance and BlueOnion for the fund's sustainability performance. Jurors who have signed up/assigned to a particular peer group will score based on their experience with the fund house and team and the evidence presented in front of them. Cutting at this stage could be relatively subjective, as each juror has their selection priorities, often guided by their underlying needs and experiences. For example, a private banking gatekeeper would prioritize criteria selection differently than a single-family office.
Winning Titles
The strategy with the highest final score in its peer group wins the Best-in-Class award. Up to two Outstanding Achiever awards will be given to Strategies within a 5% margin below the Best-in-Class
- Asia Equity
- Asia Pacific Equity
- China Equity
- Europe Equity
- Global Equity
- Greater China Equity
- Hong Kong Equity
- Japan Equity
- United States Equity
- Sector Equity
- Asia Fixed Income
- Asia Pacific Fixed Income
- Global Fixed Income
- Hong Kong Dollar Fixed Income
- RMB Fixed Income
- Aggressive Mixed Assets (81% to 100% Equity)
- Growth Mixed Assets (61% to 80% Equity)
- Balanced Mixed Assets (41% to 60% Equity)
- Conservative Mixed Assets ( 21% to 40% Equity)
- Uncategorized Mixed Assets
- Default Investment Strategy – Core Accumulation
- Default Investment Strategy – Age 65 Plus
In an industry managing trillions of dollars, investment managers' decisions, directly and indirectly, affect countless lives, the environment, and the overall fabric of life every day. The Sustainability Award aims to assess the fund manager's ability to manage medium- to long-term environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities. ESG is now a mainstream Category for MPF Investment Managers to show off their walking talk sustainability practices. We continue to recognize the funds driving the most sustainable impact while generating shareholders' value.
- METHODOLOGY
- ESG Integration Award
- Stewardship Award
- Transparency Award
- Climate Risk Award
- Climate Governance Award
- Climate Strategy Award
Eligibility:
Although this program assesses investment strategies rather than funds, we ask for factsheets and other information related to the oldest share class of a flagship fund so that all candidates can be measured by the same metrics. The flagship strategy must:
- have a minimum 3 years track record
- disclose the most recent full holdings
- provide a prospectus or fact sheet
The underlying strategy submitted does not have to be an authorized fund in Hong Kong. It can be a UCITS, SICAV, etc…
3 Steps to the Title:
Step 1: – Decide which investment strategies you would like to put forward. We have listened to our hard-working contestants and decided to allow them to enter more than one fund in each category. Please consider choosing the bundle package that will enable you to enter more funds into one type than going ala carte.
Step 2: – Fill out the Multiple Choice Questionnaire to be shortlisted. Due to increasing entries yearly, we can no longer offer each fund an opportunity to the Gatekeeper Forum. To present the best of the best in front of the judges, candidates who have met the qualifying threshold will be shortlisted to enter this second round of assessment. These shortlisted candidates are determined by the quality of the answers provided in the questionnaire.
Step 3: – Shortlisted candidates who made it to the Gatekeeper Forum will complete the rest of the questionnaire, which is the text responses of the submission. Judges will score their interviews with the PM/CIO based on the criteria specified in their scorecards. This is a subjective process, and the judges will be provided with the independent financial performance provided by Morningstar and the sustainability performance by BlueOnion. This is a highly curated forum where only the PM, CIO, or Product Specialists are invited to meet the Senior Gatekeepers in person. During the 30-minute session, a panel of 3-5 jurors will ask in-depth questions along the five critical pillars for further understanding of team practices. Jurors will be provided the overall Level I and II submission and an independent report extracted from independent sources – Morningstar for the fund's financial performance and BlueOnion for the fund's sustainability performance. Jurors who have signed up/assigned to a particular peer group will score based on their experience with the fund house and team and the evidence presented in front of them. Cutting at this stage could be relatively subjective, as each juror has their selection priorities, often guided by their underlying needs and experiences. For example, a private banking gatekeeper would prioritize criteria selection differently than a single-family office.
Winning Titles
The strategy with the highest final score in its peer group wins the Best-in-Class award. Up to two Outstanding Achiever awards will be given to Strategies within a 5% margin below the Best-in-Class
The ESG Integration Award recognizes investment management companies that demonstrate commitments to integrate ESG into their investment decision-making throughout the investment process for the entire suites of their products and investment activities. It reinforces ESG's role in Long-Term Value Creation.
Judges will be looking for qualities in the:
- Systematic approach: innovative approaches to applying environmental, social, and governance (ESG) analysis to the funds being managed across the board, despite the sectors, countries, and asset classes
- Alignment level with the EU's SFDR Article 8 regulatory technical standard for ESG integration
- Buy-in of the team and implementation: how multiple units come to a consensus for the performance across the board
- Disclosure: disclosed policies and procedures for integrating ESG information and metrics into the investment process communicated to investee companies
- Execution: resources, constraints, and timeline management
- Outcomes: How are results measured?
Judges will also evaluate the fund based on the alignment level with the EU's SFDR Article 8 regulatory technical standard for ESG integration. An independent ESG and critical sustainability metrics report of the funds submitted by the candidates will be drawn from BlueOnion* to demonstrate the walking the talks of the funds' ESG scoring, Risk ranking, and rating, as well as the Paris Agreement's Temperature alignment against their peers. You can enter more than one fund for each category by registering under a separate entry.
*BlueOnion is Benchmark's disruptive fund research platform hosting over 290,000 funds with sustainability data, including ESG, Global Compact (GC), and Temperature Score in 67 countries.
This award recognizes fund houses putting the welfare of the beneficiaries at the forefront. This award is given to the fund houses that embrace Responsible Investing and practice Active Ownership and integrate ESG into their ownership policies and practices while driving positive real-world goals. Apart from illustrating their collaborative engagement initiatives with the investees, they prioritize outcomes at the society/economy-wide scales, such as addressing climate change and corruption, rather than purely focusing on pure risks and returns of the holdings in the portfolio.
Judges will be looking for qualities in:
- the foundation of the practical stewardship principles
- ongoing development and implementation of the stewardship policies
- monitoring and assessment techniques of investee companies
- the collaboration goals and engagement principles with investee companies and investors
- how voting rights are exercised
- how ESG is promoted as long-term value creation
- level of transparency, disclosure, and reporting
Multiple funds of the candidates will be drawn randomly from BlueOnion* to demonstrate the walking the talks of the fund houses’ ESG, GC, and Temperature performances against their peers.
*BlueOnion is Benchmark's disruptive fund research platform hosting over 290,000 funds with sustainability data, including ESG, Global Compact (GC), and Temperature Score in 67 countries.
The Transparency Award recognizes investment management companies that demonstrate commitment to disclosing the firm's and their investment portfolios' climate-related financial risks and how their existing processes support their investment decisions.
Judges will also evaluate the house based on the level of disclosure under the TCFD guideline of the four pillars of Governance, Strategy, Goals & Metrics, and Risk Management, and the other 11 metrics associated with the four pillars.
Judges will be looking for qualities in the:
- TCFD Report from the last reporting cycle
- Additional voluntary disclosures beyond regulatory requirement
- Percentage of companies in the constituents that are aligned with the disclosures of the four pillars and 11 topics and their qualities of disclosure
- Policies and procedures disclosed for strategies tackling physical and transition risks described in the reporting, and the goals and metrics set for achievement
BlueOnion* will provide an independent TCFD alignment report for the fund to assist the jurors with the assessment. The information will reveal the underlying companies of the constituents that are aligned with the disclosure requirement based on five levels: Basic, Foundation, Core, Enhanced, and Unaligned.
*BlueOnion is Benchmark's disruptive fund research platform hosting over 290,000 funds with sustainability data, including ESG, Global Compact (GC), and Temperature Score in 67 countries.
The Climate Risk Management Award recognizes an investment house that identifies, assesses, and manages climate-related risks as part of the core risk management protocol.
Judges will be looking at the approaches of the firm to manage climate-related risks and opportunities:
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- How the manager engages with the investees to set climate-risk metrics and encourage sustainable practices in their operations, and the same goes for fixed-income houses, their collaborative and collective engagement
- How the manager's risk management teams integrate traditional investment processes to monitor counterparty and credit risks
- How the team uses carbon-related and climate risk metrics to enable a deeper financial analysis of potential risks during security selection
- What are the metrics being used for risk mitigation?
- The paths the manager has taken before divestment and the stakeholder's protection.
BlueOnion* will provide independent Risk Scores for the funds managed by the manager randomly chosen to assist the jurors with the assessment. The information will reveal the underlying companies of the constituents that are aligned with the overall ESG, a standalone Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Score, and the Carbon Risk Score.
*BlueOnion is Benchmark's disruptive fund research platform hosting over 290,000 funds with sustainability data, including ESG, Global Compact (GC), and Temperature Score in 67 countries.
The Climate Governance Award recognizes an investment house with apparent board oversight and management's role in assessing and managing climate-related risks and opportunities.
Judges will be looking at the approaches of the firm to governance in climate-related risks and opportunities:
- How the board has laid out the policies and defined clear responsibilities between the board and the management involvement and the risks articulation to include fiduciary duties, risk mitigation, etc.
- How a consensus comes about for board-approved policies, goals, and target setting and how progress is measured and reported
- The strategies and activities for upskilling internal skill sets and expertise, linkage to corporate strategy, and capacity building for senior management to the most junior personnel
BlueOnion* will provide independent Environmental Commitment scores for the funds randomly chosen from the investment firm to assist the jurors with the assessment.
The information will reveal the overall portfolio of the funds chosen and their underlying companies of the constituents of their public pledges to Renewable Energy Usage Target, Sustainability Integration, Air Emissions Reduction, Ensuring Environmental Protection, Biodiversity Protection Targets, Hazardous Waste Reduction, and Water Strategy
*BlueOnion is Benchmark's disruptive fund research platform hosting over 290,000 funds with sustainability data, including ESG, Global Compact (GC), and Temperature Score in 67 countries.
The Climate Strategy Award recognizes an investment house with the best strategy to tack actual and potential impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities on both the organization and their investment portfolio levels.
Judges will be looking at the approaches of the firm strategy development in climate-related risks and opportunities:
- How objectives are set to promote stewardship and encourage investees for climate strategy development
- How the managers are capturing green investment opportunities while targeting to reduce the carbon footprint and mitigate exposure to carbon-intensive assets
- How is the process of identifying and mitigating the portfolios' transition and physical risks and the percentages of exposures to both dangers, and the divestment/re-weighting of holdings to reduce exposure to stranded assets
- What impact do the firm's portfolios have on climate change – the 1.5°C or 2.0°C scenario compared to the benchmark? What are the firm's scenario analysis and stress testing helping to value the assets at risk
BlueOnion* will provide independent reporting on Carbon Exposures for the funds randomly chosen from the investment firm to assist the jurors with the assessment.
The information will reveal the overall portfolio of the funds chosen and their underlying companies of the constituents of their exposures in Stranded Assets, Country Risk, Carbon Footprint, Scope 1&2 emissions, water withdrawal and toxic waste production, and the Temperature Alignment of 1.5°C or 2.0°C scenario.
*BlueOnion is Benchmark's disruptive fund research platform hosting over 290,000 funds with sustainability data, including ESG, Global Compact (GC), and Temperature Score in 67 countries.
The MPF Sponsor Awards recognize that MPF Sponsors who have demonstrated excellence in their product designs, fund manager selection, cost structuring, and engagement with the member public in the following categories. The firm with the highest score in the respective category will win the Best-in-Class award. Up to two Outstanding Achiever awards will be given to providers within a 5% margin below the Best-in-Class.
- Product Due Diligence Award
- ESG Integration Award
- Impact Initiative Award
- Investor Education Award
- Intermediary Award
- Intermediary Support Award
For this category, we are looking at the Sponsor's responsibilities over Product quality and safety including the investment due diligence with a comprehensive fund manager selection process, risk management system, and methodologies for screening investment products. Considerations include the reviews of managers' investment process, performance and risks, portfolio management, stewardship, and corporate quality.
The submission includes the following criteria:
- Screening Process: A comprehensive risk management system and methodologies used for investment screening. Senior management participation from business units, legal, compliance, risk management, and operations on new product offerings, vetting, and ongoing monitoring.
- Product Safety and Quality: The Sponsor has undergone a stringent process to find the best underlying managers that are the least costly, complex, or risky to achieve its objectives.
- Monitoring: Whether there is a rigorous governance process to monitor the managers' deterioration in quantitative and qualitative management along their investment process, performance and risks, portfolio management, stewardship, and corporate quality.
- Investment/Divestment Process: A clear guideline and action is taken to divest away from an underlying manager whether it is a breach of mandate, underperformance on risk or return thresholds, manager's failure to comply with necessary engagement and disclosure requirement
- ESG Integration: Whether there is a process and guideline to examine investment manager's incorporation of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions and its commitment to transparency and constructive engagement with investors.
The ESG Integration Award recognizes investment management companies that demonstrate commitments to integrate ESG into their investment decision-making throughout the investment process for the entire suites of their products and investment activities. It reinforces ESG's role in Long-Term Value Creation.
Judges will be looking for qualities in the:
- Systematic approach: innovative approaches to applying environmental, social, and governance (ESG) analysis to the funds being managed across the board, despite the sectors, countries, and asset classes
- Alignment level with the EU's SFDR Article 8 regulatory technical standard for ESG integration
- Buy-in of the team and implementation: how multiple units come to a consensus for the performance across the board
- Disclosure: disclosed policies and procedures for integrating ESG information and metrics into the investment process communicated to investee companies
- Execution: resources, constraints, and timeline management
- Outcomes: How are results measured?
Judges will also evaluate the fund based on the alignment level with the EU's SFDR Article 8 regulatory technical standard for ESG integration. An independent ESG and critical sustainability metrics report of the funds submitted by the candidates will be drawn from BlueOnion* to demonstrate the walking the talks of the funds' ESG scoring, Risk ranking, and rating, as well as the Paris Agreement's Temperature alignment against their peers. You can enter more than one fund for each category by registering under a separate entry.
*BlueOnion is Benchmark's disruptive fund research platform hosting over 290,000 funds with sustainability data, including ESG, Global Compact (GC), and Temperature Score in 67 countries.
The impact initiatives measure the MPF's sponsor selection of underlying managers' ability or index to create positive social or/and environmental value. They also have material exposure to businesses that address social or/and environmental challenges through their products and services. It should also prove that their investments are aligned with one or more UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Key metrics include:
- your competitive proposition in the impact investment space
- the substantial impact, both negative and positive, and/or the progress towards achieving those goals
- the scale of the investments vs. the impact terms created
- how the impact contributes to society/economy-wide solutions
- the uniqueness of the project that was set out to solve issues not addressed before the
- buy-ins of all stakeholders with clearly defined KPIs
This award aims to identify a company’s best strategy for improving investor knowledge and relations. Judges will be looking for providers with best-in-class characteristics in the following areas. Please describe your efforts and accomplishments in:
Key metrics include:
- Key Initiatives: What are the programs/initiatives used to educate and inform the public, and do they demonstrate ongoing leadership in the MPF industry, integrating best performing managers and analyst teams, advocating employee freedom of choice, etc.
- Impartiality: Whether the information offered is objective and balanced, and whether it displays a fair amount of discussion on potential risks and is not designed to push and promote the company’s products merely?
- Sales Support: Whether there is a client support infrastructure to help advisors receive updates on educational materials that enhance ethical selling and advice
- Education: The company strives to ensure that consumers acquire a general understanding of core financial concepts, the risks and returns associated with different types of financial assets, and some understanding of their risk tolerance.
- Commitment: The organization demonstrates a commitment to consumers as lifelong learners, with programs that consider the increased complexity of markets and financial products and undergo a regular assessment of program effectiveness.
The Intermediary Awards recognize MPF intermediaries who excel in product knowledge, technological capabilities, networking, and marketing skills. If your firm is versatile, responsive, and meets impeccable regulatory requirements, while upholding ethics and integrity at the highest standards, you should consider entering.
Key metrics include:
- Major customer segments you work with and how you identify customers’ needs.
- How you conduct servicing touch-points in acquiring new customers, managing complaints, handle ongoing servicing, and implementing policies to meet regulatory compliance.
- Approach to people management including staff recruitment, formal qualifications, ongoing learning and development, retention, and promotions.
- Policies on staff engagement, staff turnover and policies in undertaking professional development.
- The company’s contribution to the MPF industry, your customers and philanthropic support to the community.
We ask contesting Sponsors to demonstrate their strength of service and support to the MPF Intermediaries, both internal and external, based on the following key indicators:
Key metrics include:
- Satisfaction – the alignment between agent/client experience and the ongoing monitoring of satisfaction level. How do you know your customers are happy or unhappy with the Intermediary, and what’s the next step?
- Engagement – your strategies, roadmaps, and indicators for ‘high-touch customer engagement with your intermediaries’ service mapping.
- Process – your level of service, including your people, cross-functional communication, and a measurement component to increase intermediary loyalty.
- Technology – how is technology being used to enhance client insights to assist your Intermediaries, such as sharing the usage of big data, AI, or data warehousing to optimize the client experience and journey?
- Business Results – your process and strategies have given you proven results such as better financial returns, member retention, etc.
- Advocacy – how are your strategies creating a more positive brand attitude that shows in your NPS or other metrics.
The MPF Trustee Awards recognize that Trustees regulated by the MPFA have demonstrated excellence in discharging their fiduciary duties, creativity, and leadership in the following categories. The firm with the highest score in the respective category will win the Best-in-Class award. Up to two Outstanding Achiever awards will be given to providers within a 5% margin below the Best-in-Class.
- Compliance Award
- Risk Management Award
- Corporate Governance Award
- Stewardship Award
- Employer Support Award
- Member Servicing Award
The “Compliance” category aims to identify best practice MPF Trustees who go beyond the most minimal regulatory requirement and proactively build an effective defense system for internal control that prepares the organization to face unanticipated market events and disruptive trends. The critical criteria in this category include the following. Please explain:
How your firm’s compliance addresses the various business functions:
- Process and rationale of integrating compliance into business functions
- Segregation between the Trustee's and Sponsor's duties and responsibilities
- New product due diligence, onboarding, monitoring, and development
- Meeting international ESG demand and applying global normative assessment
- Product and other training for intermediaries
- IT and technology framework, including data collection, data privacy, data processing
the role and responsibility of the CCO - The transparency between the business owners, process owners, and audit the lines of defense
The “Risk Management” category aims to identify best practice MPF Trustees who have best-in-class risk control infrastructures, practices, and outcomes. Please demonstrate your firm’s foresight, vision, and accomplishments on the following:
The submission criteria include qualities below:
- Effective appointment, termination, and oversight of Service Providers for services delegated
- Explicit policies covering product responsibilities, customer data privacy, customer satisfaction measurement
- Integration of risk management into key functions, from the front to the back offices, for greater competitiveness and operational safety and efficiency
- Conflict management between outsourced vendors and the Trustee within the same financial group
- Employing digital innovation while mitigating concerns derived from cyber-attacks
- Protection of data privacy and the vulnerabilities that emerged from automation
- Digitization and global expansion of your firm’s digital ecosystems
- Governance protocol for decision-making processes
The “Corporate Governance” category aims to identify best practice MPF Trustees with a robust governance framework, infrastructure, and an operating model. The process examines the critical functions of the board’s role, responsibility and compensation, risk culture, people, and talents, processes, and technologies while maintaining a diverse board of directors.
The submission includes the qualities below:
- The risk management and culture of your organization
- Senior executives’ code of ethics, audit committee independence, Chairman, CEO Board separation, board diversity policy, etc…
- The Board Diversity Policy and your firm’s commitment to a diverse board
- Relevant committees and their policies and practices
- Your firm’s principles for managing both internal and external stakeholders’ interests
- Your CRO and CCO’s reporting protocol
This award highlights the responsibilities that MPF trustees, as asset owners, have in helping to shape the world we live in.” This award is given to the Trustees that embrace Responsible Investing and practice Active Ownership and integrate ESG into their ownership policies and practices while driving positive real-world goals.
Apart from illustrating their collaborative engagement initiatives with the underlying investment managers, they prioritize outcomes at the society/economy-wide scales, such as addressing climate change and corruption, rather than purely focusing on pure risks and returns of the holdings in the portfolio.
Judges will be looking for qualities in:
- the foundation of the practical stewardship principles and sustainability issues identification
- ongoing development and implementation of the responsible investment strategies and policies
- monitoring and assessment techniques of the investment managers and investee companies
- the collaboration goals and engagement principles with the investment managers
- how voting rights are exercised by the investment managers
- how ESG is promoted as long-term value creation
- level of transparency, disclosure, and reporting
Multiple funds of the underlying investment managers will be drawn randomly from BlueOnion* to demonstrate the walking the talks of the fund houses’ ESG, GC, and Temperature performances against their peers.
*BlueOnion is Benchmark's disruptive fund research platform hosting over 180,000 funds with sustainability data, including ESG, Global Compact (GC), and Temperature Score over 65,000 funds in 14 countries.
This Award recognizes an in-house team of an MPF Trustee that has demonstrated achievements in the following Service Levels and achievements:
The submission criteria include qualities below:
- Online Support: Whether the provider offers a streamlined onboarding process for new employee enrollment, whether forms are easily accessible, switching of funds is enabled, and the submission process is well organized through website and app access.
- Service Pledges: Please describe your service pledge to the employer, describing your service level, charges, administrative undertakings, updates on regulatory changes, etc. Notes will be compared with the MPFA's Trustee Service Comparative Platform.
- Communication and Reporting: Whether the portal/statement provides an interactive portfolio overview, performance, and risk figures accompanied by the company’s commentaries and messages, and keeping the employers abreast of new legislation and regulations.
- Measuring Success: What are the key indicators used to measure client satisfaction, what mechanisms are used for collecting and measuring end customers’ feedback, what has been the attrition rate, and whether this effort demonstrates impressive growth for assets under administration
This Award recognizes an in-house team of an MPF Trustee that has demonstrated achievements in the following Service Levels and achievements:
The submission criteria include qualities below:
- Online Support: Whether the provider offers a streamlined onboarding process for new employee enrollment, whether forms are easily accessible, switching of funds is enabled, and the submission process is well organized through website and app access.
- Putting the Members First: Whether the process puts its end customers’ needs first and whether it has a structured approval process to ensure end customers’ satisfaction through tracking and improvements of end-customer satisfaction rates, customer retention rates, response time, and ability to provide accurate, precise and usable information.
- Empowerment of Members: Whether there are tools to enable customers to do things themselves and become more engaged in the process – tracking their existing portfolio holdings, researching new investment opportunities, and comparing with other investments outside of the company’s.
- Communication and Reporting: The portal/statement provides an interactive portfolio overview, performance, and risk figures accompanied by the company’s commentaries and messages.
- Measuring Success: What are the key indicators used to measure client satisfaction, and what are the mechanisms for collecting and measuring end customers’ feedback
- ECA Effort: Whether the team and process are robust enough to provide timely service to clients who actively utilize the benefits of ECA to manage their retirement account, and whether there is a mechanism to detect unusual and unethical behavior.
- DIS Implementation: What are the proactive initiatives taken to educate the members on the implementation of DIS and whether a fair approach has been taken to inform the members of its pros and cons, and what factors they should consider when contemplating such strategies.
Our honorable Jurors for 2022
Adeline Tan FIA
Agnes K Y Tai
Alan Chan
Alexandra Tracy
Angus Choi
Anthony Cheung
Belinda Hsieh
Belle Liang
Catherine Chen
Claire Chen
Clement Lai
Elsa Pau
Francesco Stadler
Joanne Murphy
Jonathan Wan
Kenny Chong
Larry Cao, CFA
Leo Lee
Leo Pui
Martin W. Hennecke
Nicholas Leung
Nick Pollard
Pamela Mar
Paul Smith, CFA
Richard Harris
Sammy Koo
Serena Mak
Simon Liu
Stephan Repkow
Zita Chung
| Submission Activities: | Key Dates: |
|---|---|
| Entry Opens: | October 11, 2022 |
| Close of Entry: | November 10, 2022 |
| Submission Deadline for Shortlisting (Level 1): | December 5, 2022 |
| Submission Deadline for Shortlisted Candidates (LevelI): | December 23, 2022 |
| The Gatekeeper Forum: | January 16-18, 2023 |
| Judging Period: | January 2023 |
| Results Announcement: | February 9, 2023 |
| Filming (completion by 1 May 2023): | Subject to Client Schedule |
There are many ways to take advantage of the collaboration between Benchmark and BlueOnion. The bundle with BlueOnion allows you to go beyond just a competition but learn the actual sustainability performance of your funds to become more competitive and meet regulatory requirements. Below are the four options you can choose whether you are an existing BlueOnion member or becoming one. Either option, you will be entitled to the participation process of the Benchmark Fund of the Year Awards, including the Gatekeeper Forum, and access to BlueOnion, an ESG analytics platform that covers over 290,000 funds and over 40,000 companies of their ESG, Climate, UNGC, financial performance, and ranking. All members receive a 30% discount on all BlueOnion products.
Fees
| Options | Entries | Additional Benefits | Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Package 1: BlueOnion Member Package | Up to 10 | The free use of the Company Screener for 1 full year | Flat fee USD 5,200 |
| Package 2: BlueOnion Member Package | Up to 16 | The free use of the Company Screener for 1 full year | Flat fee USD 8,000 |
| Package 3: New Member Package | Up to 10 | The free use of the Fund Hub for 1 year | Flat fee USD 5,200 |
| Package 4: New Member Package | Up to 16 | The free use of the Fund Hub for 1 year | Flat fee USD 8,000 |
| Additional Entries | Every additional entry | N/A | USD 980 per region |
| Non-Member Entries | Per entry | N/A | USD 1,500 per region |
The Gatekeeper Forum is a sub-set of the judging process with three to five jurors holding a two-way conversation with the manager of a contesting strategy. The forum allows the shortlisted contestants’ CIO or Portfolio Manager to showcase how they're running a profitable strategy and respond to technical questions raised by the gatekeepers. The Forum is a highly curated platform that connects both the buy and sell side of funds and empowers gatekeepers from Private Banks, Institutions, Foundations, and Single and Multi-Family Offices to look under the hood before they invest. Another purpose of the Gatekeeper Forum is to promote investment clarity and transparency. The interaction between senior fund house representatives and our jurors can reveal the underlying idea generation and philosophy of the contesting strategies from multiple perspectives, particularly from a qualitative and ESG perspective. Judges will be presented with independent financial and sustainability performances provided by Morningstar and BlueOnion together with narratives of the challenges provided by the shortlisted candidates. Only invited jurors can select the sessions they are interested in. The forum was held virtually last year, with managers and jurors joining from all over the world and this year the forum will be conducted in a hybrid format.