Tower aiming to be KiwiSaver default provider

Tower is the first large savings organisation to publicly put its hand up for KiwiSaver default provider status.

Wednesday, May 24th 2006, 10:17PM

Tower Investments is urging investors to select their KiwiSaver provider carefully, based on a proven track record of investment expertise, and says educational assistance and financial advice will be crucial to investors being able to make informed decisions. Tower Investments chief executive Tony Hildyard says that the coming year would see investors inundated by potential KiwiSaver providers presenting their strengths via the workplace and the media.

‘Superior returns’ is a common selling point in the investment industry but he says that it will be important for investors to select a provider who can demonstrate not only a history of solid returns but also robust risk management.

“It’s all very well being shown a high historic return but you have to ask about the risk taken to achieve that return as well as the relative investment cycle, and be able to assess what impact that will have on future expected returns."

"Education programmes designed to assist future KiwiSavers with their choices of provider and fund will be available in coming months,” he said “and financial advisers will play an important part in helping investors decide what’s right for them. If the decision proves too difficult then investors will be able to fall back on the government’s choice of default providers."

He says Tower will be submitting a proposal to be a default provider and while reward for risk will not be the only criterion for selection, it is expected to be an important consideration. Other key considerations will be the quality of the people within that organisation, the effectiveness of their processes, the provider’s philosophy and, of course, the resulting performance.”

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