Mercer given bronze rating

Bronze, silver or gold ratings are used to indicate Morningstar’s level of conviction in its recommendation of funds.

The research house said the insights of a global team of investment professionals and extensive diversification at the asset and fund level were characteristics that make Mercer KiwiSaver an attractive option.

“Mercer takes a long-term view when building its portfolios and will venture into esoteric asset classes, such as unlisted assets and alternatives, to source value. The portfolios boast the widest investment opportunity set in the market, and diversification across managers is high. For instance, no other KiwiSaver providers we cover invest into unlisted infrastructure or natural resources.”

Morningstar said that diversification meant Mercer funds performed well when traditional asset classes were performing poorly but lagged when markets were strong.“