Since KiwiSaver started ten years ago, KiwiSaver members have built up total assets of more than $40 billion dollars and 2.7 million New Zealanders have joined the scheme, according to the FMA’s annual KiwiSaver report 2017.
Based on returns as at 31 March 2017, total assets were up $7 billion from $33.8 billion in 2016. Investment returns of $2.7 billion were more than double those of 2016.
For the second year running, the number of transfers (between providers) is higher than new members joining the scheme.
The FMA’s findings raise alert for the number of default KiwiSaver providers who are not meeting their responsibilities in terms of addressing the financial literacy of members. The FMA has written to the chief executive of each default provider to address this.
From March 2018, KiwiSaver providers will need to show the dollar amount of fees paid on a member’s annual statement. The change comes to help members better understand their fees.