KiwiSaver officially became the biggest game in town in the September quarter, according to the latest figures from Australian research house, Plan for Life (PFL).
Total KiwiSaver funds under management (FUM) increased almost $1.18 billion over the quarter to hit $30.7 billion as at September 30, overhauling the broader unit trust market for the first time, the PFL numbers show.
The non-KiwiSaver managed fund/unit trust FUM rose $530 million to reach $30.3 billion during the September quarter, which equated to 46.2 per cent of the total retail funds market (compared to 46.5 per cent at June 30). KiwiSaver share of the retail funds market jumped from 46.2 per cent at June 30 to 46.9 per cent by the end of September.
However, in a quarter where most managers saw retail FUM increase, both Milford Asset Management and AMP went backwards. Despite recording healthy annual growth of 16.6 per cent, Milford saw its retail FUM drop $37 million (or -1.3 per cent) in the September quarter – the first decline for the high-profile manager since it became embroiled in a Financial Markets Authority investigation earlier this year.
Meanwhile, AMP continued its slide down the retail FUM rankings, dropping by $176 million (or -2.6 per cent) during the three-month period and $445 million (-6.4 per cent) in the 12 months to September 30. AMP has seen its retail funds market share slump from 12.3 per cent in September 2014 to 9.9 per cent in the latest PFL rankings.
In proportional terms Nikko Asset Management was again the winner in the total retail FUM growth stakes, adding 10.6 per cent (about $71 million) over the quarter and 63.8 per cent (almost $290 million) in the 12 months to September 30.
Mercer also experienced above-trend gains during the quarter with a 7.1 per cent (about $300 million) increase in FUM – most of which can probably be attributed to its absorption of the New Zealand Defence Force superannuation scheme earlier this year.
The top three managers by retail FUM – ANZ, ASB and BT/Westpac – all trundled on trend with annual gains of 16.8 per cent, 17.2 per cent, and, 19.1 per cent, respectively. Over the quarter, BT/Westpac also reported the highest percentage growth rate of 4.8 per cent compared to 2.5 per cent for both ANZ and ASB.
ANZ, with almost $20 billion under management, owns over 30 per cent of the retail funds market, more than double its nearest competitor, ASB.
The Kiwibank-owned Kiwi Wealth was the fastest-growing bank in the market with a 49.5 per cent increase ($775 million) in FUM over the year to reach a total of over $2.3 billion at September 30.
Excluding AMP, Fisher Funds was the slowest-growing manager in the PFL top 10, adding 12.9 per cent for the year and 1.2 per cent over the September quarter. Over the 12 months to September 30, Fisher’s retail funds market share has slipped slightly from 6.2 per cent to 6 per cent, the PFL figures show.
Overall, gross retail fund inflows were up 22 per cent ($6 billion) during the three months to September 30 compared to the previous quarter, primarily “due to the usual KiwiSaver cashflow seasonality”, PFL says, and 20.4 per cent in the 12-month period.
“Most companies reported higher inflows year on year with 20% plus increases experienced by BNZ (133.6%), Mercer (50.9%), ANZ (40.6%), Kiwi Wealth (39.2%), Nikko (26.9%) and ASB (23.4%),” the PFL research says.