Milford rolls out KiwiSaver advice

Milford Asset Management has started a soft launch of KiwiSaver advice for members.

Friday, December 20th 2019, 6:08AM

Head of KiwiSaver and distribution Murray Harris said it had started offering the service to the 1,100 members with a balance of more than $250,000. Two advisers are on hand.

Over time it would lower the minimum balance to qualify.

The fund manager would be more proactive about promoting it in the new year.

He said 15 members had taken up the offer so far.

They would go through a risk tolerance questionnaire and a retirement calculator, then have the adviser talk through the results and advice either in person or over the phone.

Harris said it was an example of KiwiSaver managers increasingly doing more for their members.

It came as new research from SuperRatings focuses on the value for money that members get from their KiwiSaver funds.

It has produced a top 10 list of providers for the seven years to March 2019, across conservative, balanced and growth funds.

It ranks the value they added, after fees, for members who started with $20,000, earned a salary of $50,000 and contributed 3%.

SuperRatings said a value-for-money focus was a good one to take on the KiwiSaver market.

“Despite a volatile financial year, the median performance for conservative and balanced funds improved over the 12 months to March 31, 2019,” said executive director Kirby Rappell.

“Schemes had to navigate through increased volatility and geopolitical risks, particularly in the final quarter of the 2018 calendar year. Stronger equity markets in the following quarter helped recover losses, though the median one-year return for growth funds moderated slightly given the higher allocation to domestic and international shares.”

Aon topped the conservative funds, adding $11,037 for the member over the seven years. Milford was best of the balanced, at $21,091 and also the growth at $29,880.

“Net benefit cuts through the issue of having to look at returns and fees separately. Our analysis shows that despite higher fees, net benefit outcomes for growth funds continue to sit above balanced and conservative funds,” Rappell said.

Harris said it was positive to focus on the return after fees, not just the lowest fees possible.

Many providers were opting to increase their offer without hiking the fees to reflect it, he said. Milford had rolled out a new online portal and was also developing an app.

Tags: KiwiSaver Milford Asset Management