Pie Funds KiwiSaver and the InvestNow investment label, Foundation Series, have put higher-risk funds on the menu in line with a recent industry-wide trend.
Ana-Marie Lockyer, Pie chief, said the under-construction Aggressive Fund comes on the back of strong demand from members.
“It is something our members have asked for and we believe that, for many KiwiSaver members, a higher allocation to growth assets makes sense given the long-term nature of retirement savings,” Lockyer said.
She said the move also plays into the manager’s strength in growth assets.
“We’re well-positioned to deliver a high-growth option that leverages the teams’ expertise, and we can offer some uniqueness with some uniqueness with some of the asset classes we invest in,” Lockyer said.
Pie was founded by Mike Taylor in 2007 as an Australasian small-caps specialist before layering on other assets classes including global equities and fixed income. The boutique rolled-out a KiwiSaver scheme under the Juno label in 2018 before rebranding it as Pie KiwiSaver late in 2023.
As at the end of last year, the Pie KiwiSaver scheme reported $576 million under management, according to Morningstar, of which almost $490 million was held in the growth fund that targets an 80 per cent exposure to equities, costing some 0.65 per cent in annual fees.
Meanwhile, the InvestNow low-price Foundation Series – available in both in KiwiSaver and standard versions – has added a high-growth diversified fund to its current balanced and growth options.
The new aggressive-style Foundation strategy targets a 98 per cent allocation to shares (70 per cent global, 28 per cent Australasian) compared to 80 per cent in its growth counterpart.
Foundation, which invests index-style in equities, has priced the high-growth fund at 0.37 per cent as per its other diversified strategies.
InvestNow, now part of the global funds administration-focused Apex Group, launched the Foundation products late in 2021 to offer low-cost, tax-efficient diversified options for investors. The platform also provides access to more than 150 investment products and 30-plus managers as well as term deposits, recently passing $2 billion in assets under management.
Over the last few years a string of KiwiSaver schemes have topped up product offerings with high-octane funds including ASB, ANZ, Kōura
QuayStreet, Simplicity and Westpac.
Also last month, the charity-focused Trust Investments hosted the chief of pioneering UK ‘faith-consistent’ fund manager, CCLA, in NZ to cement a new partnership.
Matthew Goldsack, Trust general manager investment solutions, said the two groups had formed a “strategic alliance” that would likely soon bring CCLA capabilities to NZ investors.
“We feel there is a gap in the market here,” for the specialist CCLA responsible investment strategies, Goldsack said.
CCLA chief, Peter Hugh Smith, met with a “wide range of charities, advisors, and faith-based investors” during his recent NZ tour, according to a Trust statement.
Smith said in the release: “Our collaboration with Trust Management reflects our shared values in ethical investment and responsible stewardship. By working together, we can help ensure that investments not only generate sound financial returns but also contribute to positive societal and environmental outcomes.”
Goldsack said CCLA – a co-founder of the Climate Action 100+ movement among other initiatives – aligns with a growing demand in NZ, especially among charities, for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment solutions.
“We are pleased to strengthen our partnership and provide access to their world-leading responsible investment expertise,” he said in the release.
CCLA (short for Churches, Charities and Local Authorities) was founded in 1987, although its roots hark back to the 1958 launch of the Church of England Investment Fund.
The group reported about £14.5 billion under management as at March 31 last year.
“During the year, we undertook the transition of administrative arrangements by outsourcing to FNZ, after a lengthy process of search and evaluation,” the CCLA annual report says. “Disappointingly, the transition was not as smooth as we had expected and tested for.”
The administration performance has since improved but was “not yet at acceptable standards”, the report says.
Smith says in the report the manager was also looking for further growth through intermediaries both at home and via “non-UK entities seeking an investment solution that is consistent with their faith”.