Category: New Zealand

Source: New Zealand Super Fund

Average annual returns of 10.03 percent after costs over the past 20 years make the New Zealand Superannuation Fund the world’s best-performing sovereign wealth fund, according to international sovereign wealth fund experts GlobalSWF. 

GlobalSWF’s annual rankings compare the performance of 13 sovereign wealth funds and 37 pension funds from 18 countries across five continents. The NZ Super Fund’s returns for the 20 years to 30 June 2024 were well ahead of the average returns for both sovereign wealth funds (6.4 percent) and pension funds (6.8 percent).

The NZ Super Fund was also the top performing sovereign wealth fund during the past decade, with an average annualised return of 10.33 percent after costs.

NZ Super Fund CEO Jo Townsend said that over the past 20 years the Fund had significantly outperformed long-term performance expectations.

“In part, that reflects how well global equities, which presently make up about 60 percent of the Fund’s assets, have performed during that time. In addition, our active investment strategies have also outperformed both our Reference Portfolio benchmark and our long-term performance expectations,” Ms Townsend said.

Ms Townsend said the Guardians’ active investment strategies were designed to capitalise on its competitive advantages as an institutional investor, particularly its long investment horizon, operational independence, and clear and effective governance structure.

Ms Townsend said maintaining long-term, growth-oriented investment strategies through multiple market ups and downs had been central to the success of the NZ Super Fund.

The NZ Super Fund has $8 billion invested in New Zealand, including investments in forestry, agriculture and horticulture, and numerous listed and unlisted entities.

In the past year, the Fund had expanded its rural land portfolio, increased its investment in locally managed funds that provide growth capital to New Zealand businesses, and continued its involvement in various land development initiatives that will provide platforms for housing and social infrastructure.

Source: Consumer NZ

Strong returns and fewer issues helped lift sentiment, even with some investors disengaged, although that may be about to change.

“Consumer NZ’s People’s Choice award recognises products and services whose customers are highly satisfied,” says Consumer chief executive Jon Duffy.  

Results from the nationally representative annual KiwiSaver satisfaction survey highlight the strengths and weaknesses of different retirement savings scheme providers.

“KiwiSaver customer satisfaction has improved noticeably in 2025. The sector’s overall satisfaction rating climbed to 57%, up from 52% in 2024,” says Duffy.

However, the coming years will test both the trust in and communication from providers, with Trump’s tariffs serving as one example of the immediate pressures contributing to ongoing global economic uncertainty.

Returns still rule, but interest in ethical investment is growing

Performance remains the strongest driver of satisfaction in the KiwiSaver space. Good returns are behind low switching rates, but concerns persist in areas such as fee fairness, accessibility and transparency.

“Ethical investment continues to attract high interest. Many New Zealanders say they care about whether their funds are invested in undesirable sectors, but few know the details of where their money goes.  

“Many rely on trust in their provider. Around 40–50% believe providers are making genuine efforts to invest ethically, while a similar proportion remains unsure,” says Duffy.

Top KiwiSaver providers of 2025  

Customer satisfaction leaders this year were small outfits again, more agile providers, recognised for offering strong investment returns, communication, fair fees and ethical investment options.

Generate – 80%  

Milford Funds – 75%  

Simplicity – 69%  

People’s Choice standouts

Generate earned the People’s Choice award this year, for ease of access and the features of its digital platform.  

Milford Funds extended its winning streak to eight years, thanks to strong communication and customer confidence in investment returns.  

Simplicity featured for the sixth year in a row, widely praised for fee fairness and ethical focus.

Bottom of the pack – 2025’s lowest-rated providers

Larger providers continue to lag, especially in terms of measures like communication, fee satisfaction and keeping customers informed. The biggest gripe tends to be fees.

ANZ – The largest provider continues to see a decline in satisfaction year on year, with consistently poor performance on transparency and fees.

Smart – Struggles with engagement and customer support.

Mercer – Lowest-ranked overall, with concerns about service quality and value for money continuing to dominate feedback.

The Treasury staff published an analytical note in September 2024, highlighting that as New Zealand’s population ages, life expectancy increases, and fertility rates decline, there is mounting pressure to ensure retirement savings can support individuals throughout their extended retirement years. This highlights the growing importance of KiwiSaver for the financial wellbeing of New Zealanders, both now and in the future.

For these reasons, it is important that consumers engage with their investments, rather than staying passively in default schemes, to improve their returns and build greater financial security for their retirement.

About Consumer

Consumer NZ is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to championing and empowering consumers in Aotearoa. Consumer NZ has a reputation for being fair, impartial and providing comprehensive consumer information and advice.

Source: ASB

ASB is on a hiring drive to recruit 80 additional home ownership specialists as it prepares for a surge in home loan applications. 80 percent of New Zealand homeowners are expected to refix their home loan within the next year, according to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. While most of the 80 full time specialists have now been recruited, there are still some roles being advertised. The specialists will work across the bank’s in-house home ownership team and mortgage adviser-led business.

With many Kiwi having locked in short-term rates when interest rates were higher, Adam Boyd, Executive General Manager of Personal Banking says ASB is already seeing a change in customer behaviour, with people starting to fix for longer terms. “As a result of falling rates, we expect 55 percent of our home loan customers will have locked in rates under 6 percent by December this year, compared to 40 percent in March 2025.”

ASB is also simplifying its refinance process so that Kiwi coming to the end of their fixed rate term at another bank can receive a decision on moving to an ASB loan quicker and more easily. For its mortgage adviser-led business, ASB has introduced a system to improve the quality of applications being submitted so they can be processed more quickly.  

ASB was named Canstar’s 2025 Bank of the Year – Home Loans Award winner. The award recognised that ASB delivers mortgage products that combine ‘the best features with the lowest costs, plus provides great customer service at every stage of the mortgage journey’. ASB also won Canstar’s Outstanding Value Awards in four categories – Home Lender, Investment Home Lender, Fixed Home Lender, and Investment Fixed Home Lender.

“We are seeing elevated demand for our home loans. By growing our teams and enhancing our refinance process, we’ll be able to turn around applications faster, both for our customers and the mortgage advisers we work with, while continuing to deliver great service,” says Boyd.

“We continue to offer competitive pricing, having dropped fixed rate mortgages six times this year. Our one-year fixed term rate is currently joint market leading, at 4.99 percent.”