QuoteMonster has this year launched KiwiMonster reports, aimed at KiwiSaver advisers, and is preparing to launch a new, updated version soon.

Advice tech lead Aneel Ravji said QuoteMonster had noticed that 50% of the life and financial advisers who were using its services were also offering advice on KiwiSaver products and services.

“We thought it was just a natural fit to extend our research capabilities into that area to help those customers there as well.”

He said the tool would allow an adviser to take a client through the process of identifying what type of investor they were, what type of fund they should be in and then compare their options, whether they already had a KiwiSaver account or not.

The reports are built with data from the Disclose register, Morningstar and an independent researcher, as well as QuoteMonster’s own in-house research team.

The enhanced report would start to be made available to advisers from about the end of this month, Ravji said. Those who wanted a basic comparison tool looking at returns and fees would not have to pay for the information. “If you’re a QuoteMonster user, you have access to this information free of charge. But if you want access to our research, then obviously there is a subscription involved with that as well.”

He said the number of advisers getting into KiwiSaver was “really taking off”. “I think a part of it is trying to ringfence their clients. For their risk clients, their premiums are going up, their clients are cancelling… so advisers naturally tack on KiwiSaver to retain the customer. There’s no underwriting, it’s quite simple and straightforward, it’s a great way to hang on to those customers.

“I think also out in the marketplace, there's growing awareness amongst the population to look at their KiwiSaver portfolio, because even though the average balance might be around $40,000, per account, when the balance starts to rise to like $60,000 or $100,000, we see that customers start to pay a bit more attention to what they've actually got in place.

“So on a number of fronts, we see the demand for KiwiSaver information research and attention to KiwiSaver is really growing… the heart of what we offer is the independent research. It's a great tool for advisers to be able to compare that in the marketplace. we just think this is the start of something that's really going to grow.”