KiwiSaver mammoth, ANZ, lumbered through the March quarter at the slowest growth-rate of all providers in the multi-billion dollar herd, according to the latest Plan for Life (PFL) data.
Collectively, the three ANZ schemes grew by 3.6 per cent during the three months to the end of March at almost quarter the pace of front-runner for the period, Generate, and just over half the industry average.
Generate knocked out a stellar 12.7 per cent increase in KiwiSaver assets under management in the first three months of 2024, adding some $600 million and replacing Booster as the eighth-largest provider to boot.
By quarter-end Generate reported $5.3 billion in funds under management compared to more than $5.2 billion for Booster, which was up 8.8 per cent for the period.
Meanwhile, Milford continued on-pace with a proportional growth-rate of 12.5 per cent slightly behind Generate but amounting to over $900 million extra in dollar terms.
With almost $8.2 billion under management as at March 31, Milford remains firmly ensconced in fifth place ahead of AMP on close to $6.7 billion. AMP has picked up the tempo somewhat after many years lagging the pack, turning in a slightly below average quarterly growth-rate of 5.7 per cent.
At the same time, the BNZ scheme – now part of the FirstCape conglomerate – has lost some of its early speed, growing just 6 per cent in the March quarter to reach $5.7 billion.
Simplicity, however, stayed on-trend with 10.6 per cent growth during the three-month stretch in an effort that took the partly passive provider above $4 billion.
Behind Simplicity, Mercer ($2.6 billion) and the NZX-owned SuperLife (about $2.3 billion) schemes were up 4.7 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively, for the quarter.
The collective ‘other’ KiwiSaver providers put on 10.2 per cent in assets under management in the first three months of the year: outside the top 12 named schemes in the PFL table only MAS (Medical Assurance Society) and NZ Funds have cracked the $1 billion mark but the chasing field includes several fast-growing providers.
While the weight of its $21 billion under management acts as a statistical drag on ANZ growth-rates, other deca-billionaire providers – Westpac, ASB and Fisher – outpaced the blue bank schemes over the quarter.
Westpac and ASB ended the period up 4.7 and 4.8 per cent, respectively, equating to almost $11 billion and $16.4 billion.
Second-placed Fisher Funds – now incorporating Kiwi Wealth – grew 6.2 per cent during the three months to close just under $17 billion.
Last August, ANZ flagged a potential investment and administration makeover after inking agreements with both Mercer and BlackRock that have yet to come to fruition – although changes are imminent, industry sources expect.
PFL measured the total KiwiSaver market at $111.6 billion as at March 31 with the quarterly growth comprising $1.5 billion in contributions and $5.3 billion of investment earnings.