Call the shots and take control with more choice and visibility.

When Sharesies, the country’s most popular wealth platform, started work on KiwiSaver about five years ago, its research found Kiwis considered the retirement savings scheme a “well‑loved black box”.

“The key theme that came through was that people wanted more control and more connection,” says Matt Macpherson, Sharesies General Manager, Super and Funds.

Control meant having a wider range of options and a say in where their money was allocated, without the burden of micromanagement. Connection meant being able to reflect their values in their investments, for instance around environmental and sustainability issues.

At the same time, average KiwiSaver balances were getting into the mid‑$20,000 range and investing in shares and funds directly via apps like Sharesies was becoming a mainstream wealth‑building strategy.

“Those trends convinced us there was room for a different kind of KiwiSaver scheme that sat somewhere between a completely hands‑off default fund and a DIY share portfolio,” Macpherson says.

How it works

Under the hood, the Sharesies KiwiSaver Scheme is built entirely on portfolio investment entity (PIE) funds, just like traditional KiwiSaver providers. That keeps the tax treatment efficient.

The Scheme features a set of “base” funds – typically broad, diversified funds including passive options. It includes funds run by partners such as Milford Asset Management, Generate, Fisher Funds, Smart, Pie Funds and Pathfinder.

Then there are the single-asset classes held in the “Self-Select” Fund. Sharesies has created individual PIE funds that each hold just one underlying asset. For example, the Rocket Lab fund only holds Rocket Lab, and the Fonterra fund only holds the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund. Over 150 companies and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) from New Zealand and the US are available via the Sharesies KiwiSaver Scheme, drawn from the most liquid and widely held names on the broader Sharesies platform.

“That keeps choice meaningful without overwhelming members with thousands of ticker symbols,” Macpherson explains.

Everything is wrapped in an “investment plan”, essentially a standing instruction that directs every new KiwiSaver contribution according to the percentages the member has chosen. That reinforces the idea that KiwiSaver is about consistent, long-term investing and dollar-cost averaging, not timing the market or trading in and out.

Investing – with guardrails

Conceptually, says Macpherson, Sharesies leans heavily on the “core-satellite” approach used by many professional investors. The idea is to anchor most of your KiwiSaver in a large, diversified, good-value fund or mix of funds (the core), then add smaller “satellites” around the edges that reflect your convictions or interests.

On the Sharesies KiwiSaver Scheme at least 50% of contributions must go into base funds, while the remaining 50% can go into self-select options, with a cap of 5% per self-select holding.

Macpherson is clear that using Sharesies for your KiwiSaver is “not a trading experience” and that using a retirement fund for short-term trading is a bad idea.

“The contribution rules keep the focus on long‑term accumulation while still letting people express views – for instance allocating 5% to a gold ETF, 5% to a Bitcoin ETF or a slice to emerging tech.”

Fees, managers and flexibility

Annual fund charges for the Sharesies KiwiSaver vary depending on the partnering fund’s own fee structure and how your portfolio is constructed. However, at the low end, Sharesies offers a passive fund whose fee is pegged to the world’s most popular S&P 500 ETF, which charges nine basis points (0.09%) in management fees and 0.50% for currency conversion (applied to movements, not to total holdings).

At the higher end are actively managed funds with fees over 1%, reflecting the belief that active managers can outperform indices after fees. Sharesies does what it excels at – offering Kiwis a convenient and trusted digital front-end, with the underlying investment management done by specialist firms who know KiwiSaver investments inside out.

“Sharesies users can mix, for example, a passive core with an active growth fund, or combine a values‑driven manager like Pathfinder with a mainstream player like Milford,” Macpherson says.

That gives members a kind of KiwiSaver supermarket. People who struggle to pick “the one right fund” often find it easier when they realise they can split their money across several managers in one place. Self-select fees are charged when units are bought and sold.

At a time when switching rates are creeping above 5.5% and more New Zealanders are questioning whether doing the default minimum is enough, Sharesies is betting that a more flexible, transparent and engaging KiwiSaver experience will resonate.

“We are not asking people to become full-time stock pickers,” says Macpherson.

“It simply gives them the tools and guardrails to make their retirement savings feel less like a black box – and more like a visible, purposeful part of their wealth‑building journey.”

No more clunky PDFs

A big part of Sharesies’ appeal in investing has been its user experience, and the team has carried that over to KiwiSaver, with the scheme integrated into the same app so you can see your investments and retirement savings together.

Sharesies has also reimagined how KiwiSaver mandatory disclosure appears. Typically, quarterly and annual reports on fees and performance sit on websites and PDFs. Sharesies also surfaces the most useful parts of those disclosures inside the app dynamically, so over time members can see how their decisions change projected outcomes rather than reading a static statement once a year.

For people already using Sharesies for investing or saving, moving KiwiSaver onto the platform offers a single view of all their wealth‑building activity – with the flexibility Kiwis saving for their retirement have been craving.

See how the Sharesies KiwiSaver Scheme could fit your retirement goals at Sharesies.

Disclaimer: Investing involves risk. You might lose the money you start with. Any information provided is general only and current at the time written. Sharesies Investment Management Limited is the issuer of the Sharesies KiwiSaver Scheme. The product disclosure statement (PDS) for the Sharesies KiwiSaver Scheme has been lodged, and may be viewed on the Disclose Register or on the Sharesies documents page.