, they prefer something like the old fashioned pension through which the employees would receive guaranteed monthly payments for life. as we know, people now live longer due to improvement in healthcare, diet and exercise etc. at the same time, most if not all employers have withdrawn from offering life - long pension benefits because of the huge costs involved. moreover, the current low yield environment coupled with high volatility of the financial markets have also made it hard for any defined contribution pension plans to guarantee anything other than a rather low rate of return. 7. what the hkmc is doing is to offer a life annuity product to those aged 65 and above. the hkmc will guarantee an immediate fixed amount of monthly payout for each annuity policyholder. for a person at 65, with a hk $ 1 million premium, the monthly payment guaranteed for life is hk $ 5, 800 for male and hk $ 5, 300 for female, equivalent to an annuity rate of about 7 % for men and 6. 4 % for women. the reason that the hkmc can offer rather high annuity rates is because it will place the entire annuity premium received from policyholders with the hkma. the hkma will then invest the money alongside with the exchange fund portfolios, half in the public markets ( bonds and listed equities ) and half in private markets ( private equity and real estate ). as the hkma already has the investment capability and infrastructure for managing a portfolio as large as around hk $ 4 trillion, it would be easy to take on the additional investment generated by the hkmc ’ s annuity premium. the hkmc has now received around 10, 000 applications amounting to $ 5 billion in subscription. we are processing the applications and the exercise is expected to be completed soon. by end - october or early november this year, the first annuitants will be receiving their first monthly annuity payments. 8. let me do some quick maths here by using a married couple at the age of 65 who has joined both the reverse mortgage programme and the life annuity scheme. if the property they own is worth hk $ 5 million, ( which is the average value of the properties under the programme ), then they would get a monthly payment of $ 11, 000 plus the right of lifelong occupancy under the reverse mortgage programme. if they each subscribe for hk $ 1 million life annuity, then they will get another hk $ 11, 100 ( $ 5

speeches 07 jun 2022 opening remarks at the alliance for green commercial banks cornerstone members memorandum of understanding signing ceremony eddie yue, chief executive, hong kong monetary authority distinguished guests and friends, 1. good afternoon. it is my great pleasure to join you to celebrate another milestone of the alliance for green commercial banks. today we are going to witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding that brings in five cornerstone members to the alliance, welcome the on - boarding of four global partners and a knowledge partner, and publish the alliance ’ s first thought leadership paper. 2. my special thanks to the ifc advisory team and the hkma market outreach team for their hard work and close collaboration that brings out the biggest common denominator among various stakeholders. i would also like to personally thank the cornerstone members and partners for their strong support and contribution throughout the engagement process. what we have achieved today is the product of collective efforts. 3. we at the hkma feel privileged to have partnered with the ifc in launching the asia chapter of the alliance for green commercial banks. this is an important joint commitment and undertaking to support financial institutions in asia on their journey to become leading green institutions 4. indeed asia has the largest need for climate finance among the geographical regions. it is estimated that 66 trillion usd of climate investment is required for the region in the coming three decades. this is equivalent to over half of the global investment needed to contain temperature rise by 1. 5°c1. 5. the public sector alone cannot meet the enormous financing needs. commercial banks can and do play a crucial part in fostering the green transition. they can do so by adopting clear strategies and targets to develop green finance products and services to support the transition of the real economy. 6. we fully recognise that commercial banks are at various stages of this green transformation, and there is much scope to create synergy among banks in the region. the alliance serves as a platform to foster this much needed public - private sector partnership. the ifc offers a deep pool of knowledge and expertise in climate finance across the globe. the hkma will leverage hong kong ’ s international financial centre status as a focal point to promote green banking in the region. 7. since its launch, the alliance has organised capacity building events on a wide array of green finance topics, including green bank transformation, green building, voluntary carbon markets, climate risk management and green capital markets. 8. today the alliance is taking another big step forward by enlarging our network of