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Leading financial centres across the globe have embraced funded Defined Contribution (DC) structures as the backbone of their employee benefits systems. This model aligns with the evolving norms of financial security, transparency, and employee empowerment, prevalent in these markets. Moreover, it is favoured by multinational companies for its congruence with their global operations, offering a seamless and efficient approach to providing a high-value employee benefit: long-term savings schemes.

The United States is the largest DC market globally, with an established system of companies saving into 401(k) plans. In the United Kingdom, mandatory auto enrolment into workplace DC pension schemes was introduced in 2012. Having started in the UK market at the launch of auto enrolment, Smart has since built an adaptable technology platform for similar major national reform programmes across the world.

Further East, Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund (‘MPF’) schemes have made DC auto enrolment compulsory for over two decades, and a groundbreaking centralised national ‘eMPF’ platform is scheduled to launch in 2024. Singaporean companies have compulsory auto-enrolment into the Central Provident Fund (CPF), which is now one of the largest DC funds in the world. China, meanwhile, has also recently announced reforms to introduce a national DC private pension system.

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