InvestNow Review

InvestNow Review

InvestNow is the platform we point people to when they tell us they want to buy funds and then leave them alone for a decade. It charges no platform fee and no KiwiSaver administration fee, which is unusual in a market where annual membership charges are common. The fees you pay are the fees of the funds you choose.

The catch is smaller than the headline but real. InvestNow's own Foundation Series funds carry a 0.50% buy transaction fee and a 0.50% sell transaction fee. That is a 1% round trip on every dollar in and every dollar out, and it applies to each contribution rather than once. For anyone contributing monthly and holding, that is a minor drag. For anyone moving money in and out, it can wipe out the benefit of a low annual fee.

We also want to flag something the current write-up gets wrong. InvestNow does not offer zero transaction fees across the board. The Foundation Series charges them, and the fund range is described by InvestNow as over 40 investment options in the KiwiSaver scheme alone, not the 150-plus funds and 200-plus options claimed in older versions of this review.

How We Researched This Guide

We worked from primary documents rather than summaries. That means InvestNow's own published fee tables, the Foundation Series product disclosure statement, and the fund's most recent quarterly fund update. Where we compare platforms, the figures come from each provider's own pricing page: Sharesies as updated 26 August 2026, Hatch as updated 18 March 2026, and the others from their current published rates.

One thing surprised us. The Foundation Series High Growth fund states an estimated fee of 0.37% in its product disclosure statement, but the latest quarterly fund update reports 0.39%. That gap is small, and it is a useful reminder that estimated fees are estimates. We also leaned on Inland Revenue's rules for the foreign investment fund de minimis threshold, set out in full on legislation.govt.nz, and on FMA consumer guidance for how we frame risk and cost.

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The Quick Summary (60-Second Version)

Six things to know before you open an account.

• No platform fee and no KiwiSaver administration fee — you pay the manager's fund fee and nothing on top.
• Foundation Series High Growth has an estimated fee of 0.37% and a reported actual fee of 0.39%, plus 0.50% to buy and 0.50% to sell.
• Those transaction fees apply to every contribution, so a monthly saver pays them twelve times a year.
• The KiwiSaver scheme has over 40 investment options, and the wider platform covers managers across the market.
• Foundation Series High Growth is roughly 98% growth assets, carries risk indicator 5, and launched 4 March 2025.
• Best suited to people contributing to hold for years, not to anyone trading in and out.

What InvestNow Actually Costs You

The pricing model is the whole story here. InvestNow takes nothing for hosting your money. There is no platform fee on the fund range, no KiwiSaver administration charge, and no subscription. The manager's fee on the fund you pick is the only ongoing cost.

That structure works well if you are comparing it with a platform that charges a flat annual amount regardless of how much you hold. On a small balance, a flat fee hurts more. On a large balance, a percentage platform fee hurts more. InvestNow sidesteps both by charging neither.

The Foundation Series is where the cost becomes less obvious. The High Growth fund sits at an estimated 0.37% a year, reported at 0.39% in the latest fund update. Both figures exclude the transaction fees, and those are the part people miss.

The Transaction Fee Maths

A 0.50% buy fee and a 0.50% sell fee means a 1% round trip. If you contribute monthly and hold for twenty years, you pay the buy fee on every contribution. If you then withdraw in one go, you pay the sell fee once on the whole balance.

Compare that with a fund charging a higher annual fee but no transaction fee. On money you contribute once and leave alone, the low annual fee wins clearly. On money you might move within a year or two, the 1% round trip can outweigh a year of fee savings. That is the trade-off, and it depends entirely on your behaviour.

How InvestNow Compares With Other Platforms

The platform question is more about your order pattern than about which one is objectively cheapest. Each of these has a structure that suits a particular kind of investor.

Kernel is the closest comparison on the fund side. Its Core tier is free with management fees between 0.25% and 0.50% a year, and it charges $0 brokerage on US share trades at every tier. The tier you pick changes the FX fee rather than the trading cost, dropping from 1.50% on Core to 0.40% on Premium. For someone holding only New Zealand index funds and never converting currency, Core is enough.

Sharesies, Hatch and the Brokerage Side

Sharesies charges 1.9% per transaction, capped at $25 on NZX orders, $15 AUD on ASX and $5 USD on US orders. Because the NZX cap kicks in at orders over $1,316, a $500 NZX order costs $9.50 while anything above $1,316 costs $25 flat. That makes it cheap for small orders and protected on large ones.

Hatch charges US$3 flat brokerage on US trades, plus a 0.5% exchange fee applied on both deposit and withdrawal. The flat fee rewards buying larger amounts less often — it is 1% of a $300 order and 0.1% of a $3,000 order. Stake matches the US$3 brokerage but charges 1% on currency conversion, double Hatch's rate, with a US$2 minimum.

Where InvestNow Fits

If you want a wide choice of fund managers in one place and you are contributing to hold, InvestNow's lack of a platform fee is hard to beat. The transaction fees are the price of that. Someone adding $500 a month pays $2.50 in buy fees each time, which is $30 a year on $6,000 contributed.

If you trade in and out, or you want a mobile app and a modern interface, the structure works against you. That is not a flaw in the platform. It is a mismatch between the platform and how you invest.

Questions You Might Have

Does InvestNow really charge no fees?

No platform fee and no KiwiSaver administration fee, yes. But the funds themselves charge management fees, and the Foundation Series adds a 0.50% buy fee and a 0.50% sell fee. So you always pay something — it just is not a platform charge.

Is the Foundation Series good value?

On annual fees, yes. The High Growth fund sits at an estimated 0.37%, reported at 0.39%. The transaction fees are what to watch. If you contribute regularly and hold for many years, the low annual fee dominates. If you might withdraw within a year or two, the 1% round trip is significant.

How does it compare with Kernel?

Kernel charges membership on its Plus and Premium tiers, $5 and $15 a month, but drops the US share FX fee from 1.50% to 0.60% and 0.40%. InvestNow charges no platform fee at all but has transaction fees on its own funds. Which wins depends on whether you hold funds or trade US shares.

Is InvestNow good for beginners?

The range is large, and a wide fund menu with different fee structures takes research. That said, the FMA's own guidance is that a managed fund may suit many people better than picking shares. If you want a simple starting point, a single diversified fund is easier than building a portfolio.

What about tax on the funds?

The Foundation Series is structured as a PIE. Most New Zealand managed funds are multi-rate PIEs, taxed at your prescribed investor rate, with the manager handling the calculation and payment. If your marginal rate is 33% or 39%, the 28% cap on PIE income is an advantage.

What Matters Most

The biggest driver of how your investing turns out is not which platform you pick. It is how much you invest regularly, over how long, and what you pay in fees along the way. A low-cost diversified fund held for twenty years with consistent contributions will usually beat a carefully picked share portfolio that gets traded in and out of.

InvestNow fits that pattern well. No platform fee, a wide fund range, and KiwiSaver with no administration charge. The transaction fees on the Foundation Series are the honest caveat, and they only bite if you move money often.

The longer you hold, the more your outcome is decided by compound interest rather than by which platform you picked.

If you are contributing to hold, it is one of the strongest options available here. If you want an app, a modern interface, or you trade frequently, look elsewhere — and know that you are paying for something other than cost.