KiwiSaver funds under management (FUM) grew $6.8 billion to $117.6 billion during the September quarter, while annual KiwiSaver fees are over $150 million higher than they were a year ago.
According to investment research firm Morningstar, the FUM increase was $3.3 billion more than during the June quarter when KiwiSaver funds rose by $3.5 billion.
Morningstar data director Greg Bunkall said multisector KiwiSaver funds had produced positive returns over the September quarter.
Of the three biggest providers, ANZ continues to top the list, controlling 18.5% or $21.8 billion of the market.
ASB and Fisher Funds were neck and neck for second place in the June quarter, but in the September quarter ASB placed second.
ASB had a market share of 15.1% or $17.8 billion, compared with Fisher Funds with market share of 15% or $17.6 billion.
Westpac was in fourth place and Milford rounded out the top five providers, Bunkall said.
The five biggest KiwiSaver providers hold about 68% of the assets in Morningstar’s database and account for roughly 69% of the fees.
Morningstar reported an estimated $918 in annual KiwiSaver fees in the 12 months to September 2024, up 5.6% from the $869 million in annual fees during the June 2024 year.
Year-on-year KiwiSaver fees rose 20.6% or $157 million compared to $761 in estimated annual fees during the September 2023 year.
Punched out
"Average multisector category returns for the September quarter clustered around 4% indicating broad based asset class appreciation," Bunkall said.
On a multisector funds performance level, QuayStreet Income was the best performing fund in the conservative category in the September quarter, up 4.2%.
In the moderate category, InvestNow Mint Diversified Inc rose the most, up 4.9% and SuperLife Ethica was the best performer in the balanced category, up 4.9% as well.
QuayStreet Growth had the best performance in the growth category and was up 1.8% across the quarter.
In the aggressive category, ANZ High Growth was the top performing fund, up 5.2%.
Across a 10-year benchmark, Morningstar’s preferred long-term performance measurement, Bunkall said the aggressive category average has given investors an annualized return of 9.1%, the same when measured in the June quarter.
Across a 10-year benchmark for the other categories, growth had given an average return of 8.2%, followed by the balanced category at 6.7%, the moderate category at 4.8%, and the conservative category at 4.3%.
Out of the six default fund options – provided by BNZ, Booster, Fisher Funds, Simplicity, SuperLife and Westpac – Bunkall said Fisher Funds and Westpac made up the top of the table with the best returns of the quarter.
“Most of the default funds punched out 16%+ returns for the year. This is in contrast to the average conservative fund which was around 11%,” Bunkall said.
4 Comments
It's a little more nuanced than what you're saying on fees.
BNZ, Westpac are all below the averages for the respective sector options (Growth/Conservative etc) if you check the morningstar report. I think BNZ charge buy sell spreads as a separate line item which only a few providers do and I'm not sure how they're reflected in the fees there.
ASB is generally below average but even when it's above it's there or thereabouts.
ANZ remains an active manager for now (so they still charge a premium) and is above average generally.
I won't comment on whether they're providing value on the other hand...
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