KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has estimated that 150,000 members have signed up for Simpanan Shariah as of today.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, said EPF continued to offer its contributors many choices.

"The response to Simpanan Shariah has been encouraging," he said on the last day of International Social Security Conference 2016 here today.

As of December 2015, the fund has 14.55 million members, of whom 6.79 million are active.

The new retirement savings option will be launched in January 2017.

It signed up 38,613 members yesterday, 46,686 on Tuesday and 41,583 on Monday.

A fund size of RM100 billion has been allocated for the Simpanan Shariah 2017 and is based on a first come, first served basis.

Meanwhile, EPF's Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Strategy), Tunku Alizakri Alias, said the retirement saving fund has consistently received a big turnout for Simpanan Shariah in all its branches nationwide.

"We are on the right track in giving the right choices for our members. We will publishing the numbers of our members who have converted hopefully on daily basis in our website," he told reporters on the sidelines of the conference.

Alizakri said the EPF would also provide updates if Simpanan Shariah hit certain threshold.

He urged members to make sure their financial health was in good conditions and not rely on the retirement savings alone by starting to look at other avenues such as unit trusts and private retirement scheme.

"For us, we are a bit worried because they must know what they are doing, which is why in terms of financial literacy you must try to upscale yourself as fast as possible.

"For EPF, we have our retirement advisory services. Our members or the public have the opportunity to have their financial health checked for free but you need to be as open as possible," he said.

Alizakri said there will be no change in EPF's investment strategy with the introduction of Simpanan Shariah.

"We have our strategic asset allocation. We still going to follow it. The only difference is on the shariah compliancy," he said.

The two-day conference, themed "Active Aging: Live Long and Prosper" is jointly organised by the EPF and State Street, one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors.

The event discussed healthy ageing and establishing age-friendly communities, as well as encouraging engagement of the growing senior generation in the economic and social landscape. --BERNAMA