NZDF Kiwisaver schemes wins platinum award for value for money
SuperRatings has awarded the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) KiwiSaver Scheme a Platinum rating, after its annual review.
The review included an assessment of 31 KiwiSaver schemes against SuperRatings’ proposition of “value for money” for scheme members.
The NZDF KiwiSaver Scheme was established in October 2015, as part of NZDF’s holistic support for its military and civilian personnel. The scheme is open to all current military and civilian personnel, NZDF Reserve Forces, Veterans and their families.
It was one of the first new schemes to be registered under the Financial Markets Conduct Act regime, which meant it needed to set the benchmark for these types of schemes and the rigorous criteria that needs to be met by the Financial Markets Authority and Inland Revenue.
Chief People Officer Liz Huckerby said the award was great news for its members and the NZDF.
“We want our people to make good financial decisions now so they are set up in the future,” she said.
“We have a wide age range of personnel and for some the focus is on retirement and for others they are using their KiwiSaver as a way of getting on to the property ladder.
“In the past year we’ve had 250 personnel withdraw from their NZDF KiwiSaver to fund a first-home purchase and more than half of these people have been in Auckland.
“To receive a Platinum rating is the icing on the cake for our team, who work hard to ensure the scheme is performing well and delivering on our commitment to our personnel. We’re thrilled to be able to have our scheme independently verified as being value for money.”
The scheme is not-for-profit, meaning fees are kept as low as possible to maximise return on investment for members. The fund manager contract was openly tendered in 2015 and it was awarded to Mercer NZ, which is the current fund managers and operates an active investment model.
The SuperRatings analysis covers five main assessment criteria and is complemented by site visits of providers, to accurately identify value for members.
Ratings are distributed over a pre-determined distribution bell curve, ensuring only a limited number of schemes achieve the highest ratings. Platinum is the highest rating available under SuperRatings assessment criteria. Eight schemes received a Platinum rating.
