ANZ KiwiSaver Scheme Review

ANZ KiwiSaver Scheme Review

ANZ is New Zealand's largest KiwiSaver manager by funds under management, and it does something most of its rivals do not. It runs two KiwiSaver schemes open to new members: the main ANZ KiwiSaver Scheme and OneAnswer, a build-your-own option with fourteen funds. Both are managed by the same company, ANZ New Zealand Investments Limited.

That structure matters more than it sounds because the scheme you happen to be in determines what you pay and what you can choose. Someone in the main scheme has seven funds and an age-based option. Someone in OneAnswer has fourteen, including single-sector shares and property funds, that they can combine.

Scale is the other thing to know. ANZ's Growth Fund is one of the largest single KiwiSaver funds we track. Size keeps costs in the middle of the pack rather than at the bottom. ANZ's growth funds are priced well above what a low-cost passive manager charges for the same job.

So this review does three things. It explains what each of the two schemes actually is. It puts every fund's fee, risk indicator and return in one place, taken from the Government's own register. And it answers the question that matters most — whether what you get is worth what you pay.

How We Researched This Guide

We took the fund-level numbers — fees, risk indicators, fund sizes, and one-year, three-year and five-year net returns — from our own KiwiSaver database, which is built from the Government's Disclose Register. For ANZ, that gave us 21 funds across the two open schemes; all figures are as at 30 June 2026.

We then read ANZ's own documents: the Product Disclosure Statement for the main scheme, the OneAnswer PDS and its statement of investment policy and objectives, the ANZ KiwiSaver Scheme Guide, and the annual report. We also checked the rules that sit behind every KiwiSaver account — contribution rates, the government contribution, and default provider appointments — against Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Two things stood out. First, the spread of fees within a single provider is wide — its Cash Fund is the cheapest option it offers, while OneAnswer's property funds cost several times as much, despite carrying the most risk in the range.

This guide is not here to tell you to switch or to stay. What it does is put the verified numbers in one place — two schemes, twenty-one funds, every fee and return — so you can compare based on facts rather than marketing.

ValueHub's Trusted Providers

We've researched the providers below — here are our picks for this category.

Simplicity

★ 4.9 ★★★★★ (592 Reviews)

Visit Website Email

Simplicity is a nonprofit KiwiSaver and investment fund manager charging 0.25% p.a. across all six KiwiSaver funds. 100% owned by the Simplicity Foundation, a registered charity. Over 190,000 members. Seven rounds of fee cuts since launch in 2016. Fifteen percent of management fees donated to NZ charities. Founded by Sam Stubbs (ex-Tower Investments CEO, Goldman Sachs).

The Quick Summary (60-Second Version)

Here is the short version before the detail.

• ANZ runs two KiwiSaver schemes open to new members: the main ANZ KiwiSaver Scheme and OneAnswer.
• The main scheme has seven funds and a Lifetimes option that moves you into lower-risk funds as you age.
• OneAnswer has fourteen funds, including seven single-sector share and property funds you can combine.
• Annual fund charges range from 0.22 per cent for the Cash Fund to 1.00 per cent for OneAnswer's two property funds.
• The main scheme's Growth Fund charges 0.95 per cent and returned 15.51 per cent in the year to 30 June 2026.
• Over five years, that same Growth Fund returned 4.46 per cent a year — less than a low-cost passive fund charging a quarter of the fee.
• ANZ is no longer a default provider. The appointed default providers are BNZ, Booster, Westpac, Fisher Funds, Simplicity and Smartshares.

What You Pay, and What You Get For It

ANZ charges a single annual fund charge and nothing else. There are no membership, contribution, establishment, switching or termination fees, according to its Product Disclosure Statement. The charge comes out of the fund's returns rather than being billed to you, which is why most members never see it leave the account.

Across the two open schemes, the figures land in a fairly narrow band. The Cash Fund is the cheapest thing ANZ offers. The diversified funds most members hold sit in the middle of its range. OneAnswer's single-sector funds carry the highest risk indicators in the range.

It helps to see the fee in dollars. None of those figures is unusual for an actively managed bank scheme, but they are all well above what a low-cost passive manager charges.

The main scheme's seven funds

The main scheme runs a straightforward ladder from cash to high growth: seven funds, one charge each, no performance fees. Every fund returned a positive figure over the past year. Here they all are, with returns net of fees and after tax.

The Growth Fund is the one most members sit in, and it is the fund whose figures the table above tracks. The High Growth Fund has no five-year figure because it has not been running that long.

Read the columns together, and the pattern is clear. The funds that did best over one year took the most risk. The one-year numbers are also far stronger than the five-year ones across the board, which reflects how good the last twelve months were for share markets generally, not something ANZ did in particular.

The Lifetimes option

If you would rather not pick a fund yourself, the Lifetimes option does it for you. It is not a separate fund. ANZ moves your savings through the scheme's own funds by age: the Growth Fund to 35, Balanced Growth to 36, Balanced to 46, Conservative Balanced to 56, the Conservative Fund to 61, and the Cash Fund to 65. The High Growth Fund is excluded.

There is no extra charge for choosing it, because you pay the annual fund charge of whichever fund you are in at the time. The trade-off is that Lifetimes uses fixed age bands and does not account for market conditions or your own plans. Someone intending to keep working past 65 may find it too conservative because it shifts you heavily into cash, even though you might still want growth.

OneAnswer — the build-your-own option

OneAnswer is the most flexible of the three. Its fourteen funds are split into a seven-fund ladder that mirrors the main scheme and seven single-sector funds. The single-sector options are where the range widens: New Zealand and international fixed interest; Australasian and international shares; a Select International Share Fund with an environmental, social and governance screen; and Australasian and international property.

The single-sector funds stretch both the returns and the risks, and the five-year column shows why that matters. The International Share Fund's one-year figure runs far ahead of its five-year average, a pattern to watch for. The Australasian Property Fund has gone backwards over the past five years, yet still charges the full fee. And the International Property Fund carries a risk indicator of 6 out of 7, the highest in ANZ's range.

The Select International Share Fund is the one to know by name. Until recently it was called the Sustainable International Share Fund, so if your statement still uses that older name, it is the same fund. It carries the lowest charge of the single-sector options, and its five-year record is among the strongest in ANZ's range.

Where ANZ Sits Against the Alternatives

ANZ is a middle-of-the-road manager on cost and the biggest one on scale. It is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive. What you pay for is active management with the flexibility to use passive strategies, plus the convenience of a bank you can walk into.

The fee is only half the picture. What matters is whether the manager earns back what it charges, and the five-year returns are where that gets interesting. On the diversified growth funds most people actually hold, the comparison is unflattering to ANZ, and it is worth seeing plainly.

Over the same five years, the ANZ Growth Fund returned less than a low-cost passive growth fund at roughly four times the fee. That is the cost of active management failing to beat a passive index, and it is a real finding rather than a marketing point. It does not make ANZ a bad choice, but it does mean you should not pay an active fee and assume it buys outperformance.

Where ANZ does stand out is the top of its range. OneAnswer's single-sector international funds have the strongest five-year records in the table and the lowest charges in their range. Those beat every diversified fund in the table. They also carry risk indicator 5 and hold a single sector, so they rise and fall much more sharply than a balanced fund. A five-year period that strongly favoured international shares flatters exactly those products, and past returns are not a forecast.

It is also worth applying a fee difference to the actual balance. That gap is the certain part of the equation, because the fee is charged either way while the return is not guaranteed. Over the course of a working life, the compounding of that difference is greater than most people expect.

Questions You Might Have

Which ANZ scheme am I actually in?

Your KiwiSaver statement or your account in the ANZ app will show the scheme name. If it does not say which one, ask ANZ Investments directly. It is worth thirty seconds, because the two schemes offer different funds and different charges.

Is ANZ a default provider?

Not any more. The appointed default providers are BNZ, Booster, Westpac (through BT Funds Management), Fisher Funds, Simplicity and Smartshares, with appointments running to December 2028. ANZ was a default provider before the 2021 re-tender.

What is the Lifetimes option, and who is it for?

It is an age-based approach available in the main scheme and in OneAnswer. Rather than choosing a fund yourself, you let ANZ move your savings through progressively more conservative funds as you age, from the Growth Fund in your thirties to the Cash Fund from 65. It suits someone who will not review their fund choice and wants the decision handled for them. It does not suit someone who wants to stay in growth assets into their sixties.

Can I mix funds in OneAnswer?

Yes. OneAnswer lets you choose one fund or blend several, including single-sector share and property funds. That flexibility cuts both ways — it is also easier to end up concentrated in a single market without meaning to, and single-sector funds can fall hard when that market turns.

How much do I need to contribute to get the full government contribution?

You need to put in at least $1,042.86 of your own money between 1 July and 30 June to receive the maximum of $260.72. The government adds 25 cents for every dollar you contribute, and employer contributions do not count towards your $1,042.86. If your taxable income is above $180,000 a year, you do not qualify.

How much will I pay at the default contribution rate?

The default employee and employer rate rose from 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent on 1 April 2026, and it rises again to 4 per cent on 1 April 2028. On a $70,000 salary, 3.5 per cent is $2,450 a year from you, matched by your employer. The rate is a legal minimum, not a limit — you can choose 4, 6, 8 or 10 per cent, and a temporary reduction is available if you need it.

Does switching to or from ANZ cost anything?

No. ANZ charges no membership, contribution, establishment, switching or termination fees, and switching between KiwiSaver providers does not attract a fee in practice. You apply to the new provider, who arranges the transfer, and you do not need to contact ANZ yourself.

What Matters Most

The scheme you are in matters more than the name on the door. These three ANZ schemes share a manager, but not the same funds, charges, or rules — and one of them has been closed to new members for years. If you cannot say which one you are in, that is the first thing to sort out.

Beyond that, ANZ is a reasonable middle. The charges are unremarkable rather than low, the fund range is wide, and the bank's scale means its funds are large and liquid. The one finding worth carrying away is the five-year comparison: on the growth fund most members hold, ANZ returned less than a passive manager charging a quarter of the fee. That does not make ANZ a bad provider, but it does mean the active fee is not buying outperformance in the diversified funds.

So the honest summary is this. ANZ suits someone who wants a large, established manager with a full range of funds and the option to have the fund selection handled for them. If you accept that you are paying for active management and you can leave the money alone through the bad years, it does the job. If cost is your priority, someone else already does that better — and if you want the higher returns, they sit in the single-sector funds, not the ones most members hold.