The gap between the two largest KiwiSaver providers shrank by almost 1 per cent in the March quarter as ASB gained ground on a flagging ANZ.
Morningstar data shows the three ANZ schemes controlled 18.8 per cent KiwiSaver market share as at the end of March compared to 19.5 per cent three months previously: at its peak the bank-owned provider held more than a quarter of funds under management in the sector.
During the same three-month period the ASB scheme increased its market share by 0.2 per cent to reach 15.3 per cent after recording asset growth of almost $1 billion – close to 10-times the dollar growth of ANZ in the quarter.
However, ANZ remains as the only provider to crack the $20 billion threshold with $20.4 billion under management on March 31, or about $3.7 billion more than ASB.
The March quarter proved another blockbuster, too, for Milford Asset Management, which added almost $740 million to its KiwiSaver scheme pile to close the period at just under $8.6 billion while growing market share to 7.9 per cent from 7.5 per cent at the end of 2023.
Milford reported cumulative KiwiSaver flows via financial advisers had exceeded $1 billion in March this year while the boutique firm now has total assets under management across all funds of more than $20 billion.
Other adviser-supported KiwiSaver schemes, Booster and Generate, also saw strong growth in the March quarter along with averagely passive provider, Simplicity.
Total KiwiSaver assets under management grew 4.4 per cent in the March quarter to reach $108.6 billion in the not-quite-complete Morningstar universe: the researcher covers 22 of 30-odd providers but about 95 per cent of funds under management.
Inland Revenue Department figures show total contributions to KiwiSaver providers topped $2.5 billion during the March quarter, implying investment gains of roughly $2 billion for the period.
Greg Bunkall, Morningstar global fund data director, says in the March report: “All multisector KiwiSaver funds produced positive returns over the March quarter, with funds that contained risk assets benefiting the most. The average multisector category returns ranged from 2.0% for the conservative category to 8.8% for the aggressive category.”
“… QuayStreet continues to perform well across many time periods in the conservative and balanced categories. Milford has consistently high performance within the moderate, balanced, and growth categories over the long term, though it has been struggling a little recently. Generate is putting up strong numbers across many time periods.”
Kōura trumped in the far-out zones, however, scoring both the best- and worst-performing result over the three- and 12-month periods for its respective cryptocurrency and clean energy funds.