Author Archives: admin

Kernel is celebrating taking the top spot for the high-growth and cash categories in its first three full years. Morningstar has released its KiwiSaver survey for the December quarter. It shows that over the quarter, default funds returned an average 2 percent, conservative 0.7 percent, balanced 1.6 percent, growth 1.7 percent and aggressive 2.8 percent. […]

KiwiSaver withdrawal numbers are up, but it’s not an easy process to go through, one adviser says. Inland Revenue data shows that across 2025, there were 58,460 KiwiSaver withdrawals for hardship reasons. About 48,000 withdrawals were made by people buying a first home. In total, $514.8 million was withdrawn from KiwiSaver because of hardship, and […]

KiwiSaver providers are hoping this is the year that politicians can work together on a better future for the retirement savings scheme. It is shaping up to be an election issue. National has promised to increase contribution rates to 6% for both employees and employers if it is returned to government. In his State of […]

KiwiSaver providers are divided on whether it is appropriate for the scheme to be made compulsory. In November, NZ First said it wanted to make KiwiSaver compulsory, and to boost the contribution from employers and employees to 10%, with a tax break to offset it. But some providers said they were not convinced that compulsion […]