We correct an error in our previous KiwiSaver rankings for the Mercer funds to March 2014

In our April 23 report on KiwiSaver returns on a regular savings basis, we have been advised of an error.

Mercer supplied their 'after tax, after fees' unit price series for this comparison. We had sought before tax unit prices in the same way we get them from most other managers.

We unfortunately didn't notice the difference in the original data when we received Mercer's data.

Ideally, for our comparisons we would like to receive gross (before tax) unit prices from all managers so we calculate the tax as it applies to our standard KiwiSaver who can shift between PIR brackets.

We also prefer to deduct the fees ourselves to ensure all fees are accounted for - which is not always the case; some managers don't adjust for the annual member fee in their 'after fees' reports, for example.

Unfortunately Mercer have declined to supply gross unit pricing. In fact, they say they don't supply that data to any other analyst.

So we - like others - have now had to reverse engineer their unit prices so they are properly comparable.

The tables below include the updated Mercer results. (Our earlier April 23 story has also been adjusted to include this update.)

We set out how we do our regular savings analysis in our earlier article.

Here is the update to March of the five default funds using the new perspective:

KiwiSaver default funds are only part a broader range of Conservative funds available, some of which have better returns. Here is the full list:

In addition, savers interested in capital-protected returns should consider Westpac's capital 'guaranteed' funds. Those details are in our earlier story.