Fisher Funds has moved closer to rationalising its triple-headed KiwiSaver suite with structural tweaks at two of the firm’s previously acquired schemes.
Under changes introduced at the end of March, the Fisher KiwiSaver Plan (ex Kiwi Wealth) now shares the same formal management entity as the group’s flagship scheme and a more similar investment menu.
According to scheme documents, the Auckland-based Fisher Funds Management replaced the Wellington-headquartered Fisher Funds Wealth as manager of the Fisher KiwiSaver Plan late last month.
The technical adjustment brings the ex Kiwi Wealth scheme into the same legal management orbit as the two other Fisher KiwiSaver products – the main scheme and the Fisher Two entity established in 2013 to house the firm’s then-biggest KiwiSaver acquisition, Tower.
In addition to the background legal shift, the group also introduced a range of life-stages options and a new fund into the KiwiSaver Plan to establish a more uniform investment range over all three Fisher schemes.
A Fisher spokesperson said the latest rejig “aligns the Fisher Funds KiwiSaver offering across the schemes, in particular the introduction of the GlidePath life stages feature and the Aggressive Fund”.
“The thinking behind this is to give our clients the options they are looking for,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the Takapuna-based manager quietly closed the Fisher Two scheme to new members last November in a further signal of rationalisation ahead.
Fisher Two is the smallest of the three schemes in the group’s KiwiSaver empire, reporting almost 80,000 members and $4 billion under management as at the end of March 2024: the scheme lost its default provider status in December 2021.
By contrast, the former Kiwi Wealth scheme (and default provider) managed about $7.8 billion on behalf of more than 266,000 members at March 31, 2024, while the original Fisher KiwiSaver held $5 billion and membership of close to 148,000 at the same date.
Fisher paid $310 million for Kiwi Wealth in a deal cemented late in 2022, surpassing the $79 million cheque inked to buy the Tower investments book in 2013.
Consolidation was always on the cards for the Fisher schemes – the manager has already incorporated several acquisitions over the years including the Huljich KiwiSaver in 2011 – but the mechanics remain complicated.
The Fisher and Fisher Two schemes shifted to the same back-office providers some years ago with Trustees Executors as supervisor and originally for administration and custody (duties now performed by Apex).
However, the Fisher KiwiSaver Plan uses Public Trust as supervisor and custodian, although Apex is on deck for some administrative services.
Despite the challenges, the recent KiwiSaver background changes suggest Fisher is getting on with the amalgamation job.
“Now that’s been done, we’re turning our attention to what comes next,” the spokesperson said.
Fisher, headed by Simon Power, is one of several KiwiSaver managers running multiple schemes. Most notably, ANZ, which also offers three schemes and, like Fisher, has closed one (the Default product) to new members.
Both the NZX – under the separate SuperLife and QuayStreet brands – and Consilium (KiwiWRAP and the new Evidential offering reported here) are also multi-scheme operators.