Just 15 KiwiSaver providers logged positive net transfers from other schemes, according to the just-released Investment News NZ (INNZ) annual survey of the sector, in a competition dominated by Milford.
Over the 2023 reporting period 20 schemes ended up ahead after netting out transfers to and from other providers.
In a stand-out year for Milford, the Auckland-based manager attracted more than $1 billion on a net basis from other schemes during the 12 months to March 31 – outpaced the second-best in the category, Generate, by about three-times.
The show-stopper billion dollar transfer result is unprecedented in the history of KiwiSaver, excluding years that featured mergers of large providers.
Generate and Milford have been either one or two in this category since the 2018 period with last year a notable exception after the Fisher Two scheme absorbed the now defunct Aon Kiwisaver.
The free INNZ KiwiSaver report, 17th in the series, shows the Milford scheme grew some $2.4 billion over the 12 months to March 31 as the transfer booty added to strong investment performance and membership-enhanced contributions.
Even ANZ could only muster net funds under management (FUM) growth across its three schemes – admittedly, with one, the default product, closed to new members – of $2.3 billion, largely via contributions and muted investment returns.
Fisher Funds came closer with combined funds growth across its three KiwiSaver vehicles of just under $2.4 billion.
As the data sourced from KiwiSaver annual reports reveals, five other schemes saw $1 billion plus FUM gains for the year including ASB ($2 billion), Generate ($1.5 billion), Westpac ($1.3 billion), Booster ($1 billion) and Simplicity ($1 billion).
Meanwhile, KiwiSaver saw a small population increase of only about 80,000 members year-on-year to reach above 3.3 million with an average account balance of $34,000.
Average account balances ranged from about $22,700 for members of the Exclusive Brethren restricted BCF scheme (population: 696) to more than $173,000 for the Consilium-owned KiwiWRAP (population: 437).
The report is available free-to-read here, or see below for access to the full dataset.
A complete set of the data in Excel spreadsheet form, covering member and funds under management trends; fees and expenses; investment returns; scheme transfers and other metrics, is available for the K-mart-like special inflation-beating fee of $460 plus GST ($529 including GST).
Please contact the author at david@investmentnews.co.nz or ph +64 21 022 575 03 for further details.