Penny needs to drop on thrift

Carmel Fisher learned lessons the hard way. Photo / Doug Sherring

You can't talk to young people about retirement. The future is just too far away.

For someone so keen to turn Kiwi kids into savers, Carmel Fisher admits she has a poor personal track record.

You can imagine the managing director of Fisher Funds having a playground epiphany at age 5 and squirrelling away her pocket money.

But the determined mother of two says her family had an "average" investment background and by the time she was 30 she had already spent most of the money she inherited when her father died when she was 11.

Fisher worked for two share broking firms then joined Prudential Assurance as an analyst before becoming a fund manager.

The penny only dropped about the importance of sensible, long-term financial management when the stock market crashed in 1987 and she saw some clients' lives destroyed.

One lost his house and wife after mortgaging the family home to invest in the share market. "I heard from him five years later. He hadn't recovered. It destroyed his life."

Fisher uses her Growth KiwiSaver fund and Fledgling fund to teach kids and parents to start saving small amounts early so they can watch their interest compound over time, avoid financial hardship and enjoy their retirement.

The two funds are among six Fisher Funds unit trusts and their NZX-listed investment companies Kingfish, Barramundi and Marlin, which now invest $620 million for more than 30,000 investors on the New Zealand, Australian and international share markets.

Other funds are the flagship NZ, Australian and International Growth funds and the Infrastructure fund launched last year with Infratil chief executive Lloyd Morrison, who bought a 26 per cent stake in Fisher Funds after its chief investment officer Warren Couillault left in February last year.

Fisher says Kiwis need to save and invest more money, and the best way to start is with kids. The latest Research New Zealand poll shows three-quarters of Kiwis who are aware of planned Government cuts to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund are concerned about how future governments will fund the retired.

But of those aged between 15 and 29 who took part, only 46 per cent were concerned about the cuts. "You can't talk to young people about retirement. The future is just too far away."

Fisher's 10-year-old Fledgling Fund gets kids interested in saving and investing by making them feel like winners. The fund invests $2.5 million for 1000 investors with an average investment of $2000. It targets companies like its top four - Ryman Healthcare, Mainfreight, NZ Exchange and Metlifecare - that usually pay an annual dividend so kids feel rewarded.

The usual minimum one-off investment is $500, or you can invest $50 a month until you reach $500, carry on or stop. Investors can pull their money out at any time with no exit fee.

The fund, which peaked at $3.9 million in 2007 when the unit price was $1.50 compared with 92 cents now, is promoted as a way for kids to help pay their tertiary study fees.

"If a 5-year-old starts investing $50 each month from when he starts school, by the time he enrols at university he will have well over $13,000 to help with his fees, assuming an 8 per cent rate of return."

The fund averaged an 11 per cent return over five years before the global financial crisis hit. Over the past 12 months the return has dropped to minus 20 per cent, but Fisher says investors in for the long haul will see gains again.

Her two daughters, aged 7 and 11, invest in the fund and have joined KiwiSaver, which she insists all parents should do for their kids.

"There's no excuse not to. You don't have to pay any money. There's $1000 out there with your child's name on it waiting to be collected. Children today who sign up will see their money compounding and get a hand-out when they want to buy their first home."