National Capital hits $100m for KiwiSaver advice

National Capital founder Clive Fernandes says with the KiwiSaver total approaching the $100 billion mark ($97.2b in Q1 according to the Reserve Bank), a huge proportion of New Zealanders are still not getting any advice on their KiwiSaver accounts.

He thinks while advising on KiwiSaver has not historically been a viable business model for independent and small firm advisers, the advance of digital tools means this may no longer be the case.

National Capital has built its business giving digital or robo advice through its inhouse-built platform. It has spent close to a $1million building and refining its system and now has a development team of four programmers and designers.

Fernandes, who was 20 years in the IT industry prior to starting National Capital, is also involved in the development side. He started the Auckland-based firm four and a half years ago when it became one of the first financial advice companies to get a digital advice exemption from the Financial Markets Authority. In 2021 it was acquired by Auckland-based financial planning company Saturn Advice.