Nikko NZ recorded the highest growth rates over the 2015 December quarter and annual period of 11 per cent and almost 62 per cent respectively, according to the latest figures published by Australian actuarial firm Plan for Life, with the fund manager formerly known as Tyndall seeing retail FUM jump from $510 million to $824 million during the 2015 year.
Aside from Nikko, retail FUM growth over the December 2015 quarter ranged from Mercer’s 3.09 per cent to 10 per cent for Milford. Again excluding Nikko, most managers in the Plan for Life survey also reported double-digit growth rates in the 12 months to the end of December 2015, ranging from 14.5 per cent for Fisher Funds to 25 per cent for Kiwi Wealth. AMP recorded the lowest annual growth rate in the Plan for Life survey, putting on just 3.8 per cent in retail FUM over the period.
While underlying managers experienced mixed fortunes, the NZ retail fund market in total grew by 4.3 per cent during the final 2015 quarter and 15.6 per cent over the 12-month period to finish the year at $68.4 billion, an increase of more than $9.2 billion compared to the December 2014 figure.
“Gross Inflows during 2015 of NZ$19.2bn, were up 14.5 per cent building further on the dramatic jump of 40.5 per cent that was recorded in 2014,” the Plan for Life report says. “There was the usual dip in reported inflows during the December quarter which saw them down 23.8 per cent due to KiwiSaver seasonality factors.”
As expected, KiwiSaver underpinned the growth in the retail market with FUM up 5.4 per cent over the December quarter and 22.4 per cent during the 12-month period to close out 2015 at almost $32.4 billion under management.
KiwiSaver now represents the largest retail funds sector, accounting for 47.4 per cent of the total as at December 2015, compared to 44.7 per cent 12 months previously
However, non-KiwiSaver retail funds also posted respectable gains over both periods, up 3.5 per cent in the December quarter and 12 per cent during the 2015 calendar year, finishing with about $31.4 billion or 45.9 per cent of the total market (versus 47.3 per cent as at end December 2014), the Plan for Life report shows.
