AMP Wealth Management NZ has put its circa $9 billion investment portfolio up for review with a shift to passive strategies one option on the table. An AMP spokesperson confirmed the underlying investments of both its KiwiSaver and superannuation master trust were under the spotlight. “To ensure the investments we offer through our AMP KiwiSaver… [Read More…]
Search Results for: kiwisaver
FMA study debunks KiwiSaver index-hugging but puts the squeeze on fees…
KiwiSaver providers are likely to face further pressure on fees following a new Financial Markets Authority (FMA) report due for publication in the next few weeks, including the potential for default schemes to publish profit-and-loss figures. It is understood that the FMA ‘value for money’ study, carried out by consultancy firm MyFiduciary, concludes KiwiSaver fees… [Read More…]
KiwiSaver sheds $4.6bn in first quarter, members regroup
The KiwiSaver market took a $4.6 billion hit in the March quarter as net inflows of about $1.1 billion were more than offset by investment losses of $5.7 billion, according to new figures from Australian research house Plan for Life (PFL). KiwiSaver kingpin, ANZ, booked the biggest loss in nominal terms (down more than $1.2… [Read More…]
Milford to add robo for KiwiSaver advice
Milford Asset Management has joined the robo-revolution becoming the eighth NZ provider to earn a digital financial advice licence. Murray Harris, Milford head of KiwiSaver and distribution, said the $8 billion plus boutique fund manager was on track to launch its new home-built digital advice system by mid-year. “We want to complement the human advice… [Read More…]
Hardship, hard times and house-hunters drain KiwiSaver
KiwiSaver hardship releases spiked about 50 per cent in March in a likely preview of more serious drawdowns ahead. According to the latest Inland Revenue Department (IRD) KiwiSaver statistics, almost 2,000 members siphoned off a collective $12.7 million of hardship withdrawals in March – up from the annual low of about $8.4 million and 1,500… [Read More…]
Kitset KiwiSaver scheme set to unwrap in spring
Consilium has slated a spring launch for its new open architecture KiwiSaver scheme with a September 1 go-live date. Dubbed KiwiWRAP KiwiSaver, the new scheme will be a “first of its kind” in NZ, according to Consilium managing director, Scott Alman. To be accessible only through financial advisers, the Consilium KiwiSaver platform would allow advisers… [Read More…]
Extra reporting relief, KiwiSaver default delay on the table; NZX regulation split
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has extended reporting dates again for entities under its aegis after providing an initial two-month relief period in March. In a release late on Friday, the FMA said: “… all Financial Markets Conduct Act reporting entities with balance dates up to and including 31 July will also have a further… [Read More…]
KiwiSavers flee to refuge in billion-dollar blowout…
KiwiSaver members switched a net $1 billion plus from higher risk funds to conservative options as record volatility shook markets in March, new estimates from Morningstar reveal. Greg Bunkall, Morningstar data director Asia-Pacific, said sneak preview figures from the researcher’s database show never-before-seen net outflows from growth-oriented KiwiSaver funds (aggressive, growth and balanced) of just… [Read More…]
It’s always sunny in December: KiwiSaver peaks above $66bn
As KiwiSaver providers brace for some horror March quarter statistics they can, at least, reminisce about a solid end to 2019 that saw a few schemes break through milestones. According to figures released by Australian research house Plan for Life (PFL) last week, Smartshares, Booster, Milford Asset Management and ANZ all clicked higher on the… [Read More…]
KiwiSaver gets quicker, cleaner; offshore reporting relief for NZ custodians
A raft of new KiwiSaver measures are now in place after parliament passed an omnibus tax law last week. As reported here, the Taxation (KiwiSaver, Student Loans, and Remedial Matters) Act includes reforms that empower the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to change the prescribed investor rate (PIR) of scheme members. The rule change allows the… [Read More…]
Funds eye bargains, self-shoppers hoard cash, KiwiSavers turn conservative
Local fund managers were buying but not panic shopping as chaos hit the NZ and global markets last week. In a week that saw record falls (and recoveries) in share markets, by all accounts NZ managers were on the look-out for heavily discounted quality items rather than bulk survival purchases. Milford Asset Management, for instance,… [Read More…]
Extreme green, lean and mean: government to turn the screws on KiwiSaver defaults
Government will forcibly transfer auto-enrolled KiwiSaver members from any existing provider cut from the next default fund appointment round, a release confirmed today. The transfer threat was among a raft of proposed radical changes to the KiwiSaver rules that will also see all default funds exclude fossil fuel investments and switch to a balanced asset… [Read More…]
KiwiSaver now: fund platform confirms scheme plans
Direct-to-consumer fund platform, InvestNow, plans to roll out a KiwiSaver scheme in the next financial year joining a slew of new providers on the scene. The platform, owned by Wellington-based Implemented Investment Solutions (IIS), would offer members access to a range of fund managers – with some bundled into risk-weighted portfolios à la the standard conservative, balanced… [Read More…]
Solid September quarter boosts local KiwiSaver boutiques
Home-grown investment boutiques Milford Asset Management and Booster are both rapidly closing in on Mercer in the KiwiSaver funds under management (FUM) race, according to the latest data from Australian research house Plan for Life (PFL). The PFL figures show Booster and Milford neck-and-neck with FUM of more than $1.9 billion apiece as at September… [Read More…]
Membership tops 3m as KiwiSaver repopulates
KiwiSaver officially breached the 3 million-member mark in November, Inland Revenue Department (IRD) figures confirm. The IRD statistics show KiwiSaver membership grew by a net 7,040 in November, tipping the quasi-compulsory savings regime just above the 3 million level. Following the latest burst of growth, KiwiSaver has captured about 60 per cent of the total… [Read More…]
KiwiSaver membership to hit 3 million in November
KiwiSaver membership is on track to top the 3 million mark this month after falling just 1,500 shy of the watershed figure as at the end of October, according to the latest Inland Revenue Department (IRD) statistics. Over the last year, KiwiSaver has been grinding out regular monthly net member gains of about 7,000 to… [Read More…]
Mirror-image products see NZ Funds unlock KiwiSaver
NZ Funds has cut-and-pasted its KiwiSaver offering to create a new unlocked product suite. The NZ Funds WealthBuilder range is an exact replica of the Auckland boutique’s KiwiSaver products “down to the last basis point of fees”, according to chief executive, Michael Lang. Lang said the new set of funds, which officially launch on November… [Read More…]
Mercer keeps NZ in retirement B-class; calls for KiwiSaver home restraint
NZ has nudged up slightly in the latest Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index (MGPI) released today but the country’s retirement system remains hamstrung by “sustainability” issues, according local chief, Martin Lewington. The 11th edition of the MGPI (summarised here) sees the NZ total score rising from 68.5 in 2018 to 70.1 in the latest study… [Read More…]
KiwiSaver provider rips into anti-passive paper
Start-up KiwiSaver firm Kōura Wealth has taken aim at a recent Kiwi Invest paper extolling the virtues of active management. In an ‘open letter to NZ’s active fund managers’, Kōura founder, Rupert Carlyon, disputes the Kiwi Invest findings that passive fund investors “are going to be disappointed in the long run”. The letter says “the… [Read More…]
FMA plans to talk down KiwiSaver fees
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has no plans to set KiwiSaver fee levels or dig in the margins as it embarks on a sector-wide value-for-money investigation, according to regulation director, Liam Mason. Instead, the FMA has expects to hold a series of “sharper conversations” with KiwiSaver schemes – particularly fee ‘outliers’ – in the wake… [Read More…]