The axe falls at Kiwi Wealth
As expected most Kiwi Wealth executives lose their jobs after Fisher Funds takeover.
Monday, February 20th 2023, 7:39PM 
9 Comments
Fisher Funds has begun its rationalisation of Kiwi Wealth with key executives losing their jobs.
Those to go include former chief executive Rhiannon McKinnon, chief investment officer Steffan Berridge, chief technology officer Craig Ward and chief customer Officer Morne Redgard.
One executive to survive the cull is general counsel Vanessa Simons. Kiwi Wealth chief operating officer Craig Holloway survives the initial cull and "will be staying on to support the integration for a period of 12 months from Wellington."
Fisher Funds acquired Kiwi Wealth at the end of last year. It says, in a statement, "the first step of the integration is the establishment of a single leadership team under Fisher Funds chief executive Bruce McLachlan assuming responsibility for continued delivery of great outcomes for Kiwi Wealth and Fisher Funds clients."
McLachlan, "sincerely" thanked Rhiannon for building Kiwi Wealth into a successful wealth management business.
“Rhiannon guided Kiwi Wealth through a significant period of growth and a challenging sales process and has built a team absolutely dedicated to the success and financial wellbeing of their clients."
He went on to say, "we wish her all the very best as she continues to her next challenge.”
Berridge will be leaving the business after a four-month period assisting the integration.
“Steffan will play an important role in supporting the integration of the businesses and ensuring our clients’ investment outcomes remain at the forefront throughout. His assistance will be invaluable as we continue to progress through this complex work and we are incredibly grateful for his ongoing support,” McLachlan bsays.
Fisher Funds says it "wishes" to retain a significant number of the Kiwi Wealth team and "expects to continue to have a meaningful Wellington presence for the foreseeable future, enhancing the growth aspirations for a national footprint."
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Comments from our readers
Particularly, the AON acquisition.
There were some funds in there where the underlying manager was Milford as a specific example,and other managers with superior performance, and the other managers had a greater range of optional funds.
The FMA approved the transfers on the basis that the investor moving from AON to Fisher Funds had to be no worse off.
The comparative performance for the matched Fisher funds to the underlying AON Milford ones was, well, pretty abysmal.
So, how did that work in the FMA's eyes?
They approved transfers that gave the investor inferior performance once the transfer was completed.
Can anyone enlighten me as to something I may have missed here?
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Last year Fisher Funds poorly performing (22/25) Growth Kiwisaver Fund charged clients 2.51% for the privilege of losing 15.9% of their money for the year while the equivalent Kiwi Wealth Growth Fund Kiwisaver client was charged 1.12% and did less badly according to Morningstar.