Generate KiwiSaver Review
Published 27 May 2026 · Updated 12 October 2026 · Written by the ValueHub team · Reviewed by Steve Baron
Generate KiwiSaver Review
Generate KiwiSaver runs 21 KiwiSaver funds open to new members, covering a wide spread of risk levels. At 30 June 2026 they held $10.26 billion for 235,227 investors. The funds run from risk level 1 to 5, so which fund you pick matters more than which scheme you are in.
Charges across the open funds run from 0.43 per cent to 1.27 per cent.
Over five years the Stepping Stones Growth 0-50 returned 7.02 per cent a year while the Stepping Stones 61-64 returned 3.49 per cent a year, which is the gap between the top and the bottom of what you can choose from.
We have kept this to the facts that decide the outcome: what the scheme contains, what it charges, and what it has returned. Everything below comes from the Government’s register rather than from marketing material.
How We Researched This Guide
Every number below is read from our own copy of the Government’s Disclose Register, which is the statutory source managers file against. It carries 21 open funds, all reported as at 30 June 2026.
We also checked the rules that underpin every KiwiSaver account — contribution rates, the government contribution, and default provider appointments — against Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Nothing here is a recommendation to switch. It is the evidence you would want in front of you before deciding whether to, gathered in one place.
ValueHub's Trusted Providers
We've researched the providers below — here are our picks for this category.
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.
- Generate KiwiSaver offers 21 open funds across a single scheme.
- Annual fund charges range from 0.43 per cent to 1.27 per cent.
- The cheapest option is the Cashplus Fund at 0.43 per cent.
- The largest fund by value is the Focused Growth Fund, with $5.51 billion invested.
- The strongest five-year record in the range belongs to the Stepping Stones Growth 0-50, at 7.02 per cent a year.
- The weakest five-year record is the Stepping Stones 61-64, at 3.49 per cent a year.
- The funds hold $10.26 billion in total across 235,227 investors.
- 21 of the open funds have no five-year figure yet because they have not been running that long.
What You Pay, and What You Get For It
Generate KiwiSaver charges an annual fund charge, and there are no separate membership, contribution, establishment, switching or termination fees recorded for its KiwiSaver scheme. 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.
| Scheme | Funds | Charge range | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generate KiwiSaver Scheme | 21 | 0.43% to 1.27% | Open |
It helps to see the charge in dollars. On a $50,000 balance, the lowest charge here, 0.43 per cent, is about $215 a year, and the highest, 1.27 per cent, is about $635. On $100,000, those figures double.
What the Charge Costs at Different Balances
Because the charge is a percentage, its cost rises with your balance. Below is what the cheapest, dearest and middling funds take on three balances. This much is guaranteed: the fee is charged in a good year and a bad one alike.
| Fund | Charge | On $10,000 | On $50,000 | On $100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashplus Fund | 0.43% | $43 | $215 | $430 |
| Australasian Fund | 1.19% | $119 | $595 | $1,190 |
| Focused Growth Fund | 1.27% | $127 | $635 | $1,270 |
The real effect of a fee is not the one-year figure but what it removes from a balance that would otherwise have compounded for decades. Small percentage differences add up to large sums over forty years of contributions.
The Kinds of Fund in This Range
The register groups every fund by type, and the type tells you more about the risk than the name does. Generate KiwiSaver spans 5 of those groups, which determines how much choice you actually have.
| Type | Funds | Risk | Charge range | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defensive | 1 | 1 | 0.43% | Weighted to cash and bonds, so it is the steadiest option in a range. |
| Conservative | 4 | 3 | 1.08% to 1.11% | Holds mostly income assets with a small share of shares, and is built for a shorter horizon. |
| Balanced | 7 | 4 | 1.14% to 1.24% | Splits income and growth assets roughly evenly, which is the middle of most ranges. |
| Growth | 3 | 4 | 1.25% | Holds mostly shares and property, so it swings more in the short term and is built for a longer horizon. |
| Aggressive | 6 | 4 to 5 | 1.18% to 1.27% | Holds almost entirely growth assets, which makes it the most volatile option in a range. |
The risk indicator runs from 1 to 7. It measures how much the fund’s value has moved in the past, not how good it is. A 6 or 7 is not a warning; it is a statement that the fund is expected to fall further in a bad year, and it belongs in a portfolio you will not need to touch for a long time.
Generate KiwiSaver Scheme — the funds
| Fund | Type | Risk | Fee | 1yr | 5yr | Fund size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashplus Fund | Defensive | 1 | 0.43% | 2.14% | — | $134m |
| Conservative Fund | Conservative | 3 | 1.08% | 5.68% | — | $179m |
| Stepping Stones 76+ | Conservative | 3 | 1.08% | 5.68% | — | $1m |
| Stepping Stones Growth 76+ | Conservative | 3 | 1.08% | 5.68% | — | $643k |
| Stepping Stones 65-75 | Conservative | 3 | 1.11% | 6.96% | — | $18m |
| Moderate Fund | Balanced | 4 | 1.14% | 8.24% | 3.54% | $838m |
| Stepping Stones 61-64 | Balanced | 4 | 1.14% | 8.24% | 3.49% | $31m |
| Stepping Stones Growth 61-75 | Balanced | 4 | 1.14% | 8.24% | — | $34m |
| Stepping Stones 56-60 | Balanced | 4 | 1.19% | 9.74% | 3.99% | $42m |
| Balanced Fund | Balanced | 4 | 1.24% | 11.26% | — | $500m |
| Stepping Stones 46-55 | Balanced | 4 | 1.24% | 11.26% | 4.31% | $80m |
| Stepping Stones Growth 56-60 | Balanced | 4 | 1.24% | 11.26% | 4.31% | $37m |
| Growth Fund | Growth | 4 | 1.25% | 13.61% | 5.52% | $2,330m |
| Stepping Stones 36-45 | Growth | 4 | 1.25% | 13.61% | 5.54% | $81m |
| Stepping Stones Growth 51-55 | Growth | 4 | 1.25% | 13.61% | 5.54% | $42m |
| Global Fund | Aggressive | 5 | 1.18% | 21.19% | — | $56m |
| Thematic Fund | Aggressive | 5 | 1.18% | 24.20% | — | $117m |
| Australasian Fund | Aggressive | 4 | 1.19% | 5.56% | — | $7m |
| Focused Growth Fund | Aggressive | 5 | 1.27% | 16.61% | 6.41% | $5,511m |
| Stepping Stones 0-35 | Aggressive | 5 | 1.27% | 16.61% | 6.72% | $65m |
| Stepping Stones Growth 0-50 | Aggressive | 5 | 1.27% | 16.61% | 7.02% | $157m |
Charges across the open funds run from 0.43 per cent to 1.27 per cent. The strongest five-year figure is the Stepping Stones Growth 0-50 at 7.02 per cent a year, and the weakest is the Stepping Stones 61-64 at 3.49 per cent a year.
What the Funds Actually Hold
Alongside the fees, the register discloses what share of each fund sits in growth assets — shares and property — and what share sits in income assets such as bonds and cash. That split explains more about a fund’s behaviour than its name does, because it is what determines how far it rises and falls.
| Fund | Growth assets | Income assets | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cashplus Fund | 0% | 100% | 1 |
| Conservative Fund | 1% | 80% | 3 |
| Stepping Stones 76+ | 20% | 80% | 3 |
| Stepping Stones Growth 76+ | 20% | 80% | 3 |
| Stepping Stones 65-75 | 30% | 70% | 3 |
| Moderate Fund | 2% | 60% | 4 |
| Stepping Stones 61-64 | 40% | 60% | 4 |
| Stepping Stones Growth 61-75 | 40% | 60% | 4 |
| Stepping Stones 56-60 | 50% | 50% | 4 |
| Balanced Fund | 21% | 40% | 4 |
| Stepping Stones 46-55 | 60% | 40% | 4 |
| Stepping Stones Growth 56-60 | 60% | 40% | 4 |
| Growth Fund | 7% | 20% | 4 |
| Stepping Stones 36-45 | 80% | 20% | 4 |
| Stepping Stones Growth 51-55 | 80% | 20% | 4 |
| Global Fund | 4% | 2% | 5 |
| Thematic Fund | 5% | 3% | 5 |
| Australasian Fund | 11% | 2% | 4 |
| Focused Growth Fund | 70% | 6% | 5 |
| Stepping Stones 0-35 | 94% | 6% | 5 |
| Stepping Stones Growth 0-50 | 94% | 6% | 5 |
The spread ranges from 0% for assets in the Cashplus Fund to 94% for assets in the Stepping Stones Growth 0-50. The conservative end will scarcely move in a poor year; the aggressive end will fall sharply with share markets and rebound just as sharply. Which suits you depends on when you need the money, not on which has performed better lately.
Reading the Returns
The figures are net of fees and after tax. Every return shown is net of the fund charge and after tax. The strongest five-year average here is the Stepping Stones Growth 0-50 at 7.02 per cent a year, against a range of 3.49 to 7.02 per cent across the open funds.
The one-year and five-year columns should be read as a pair. One-year figures across these funds span 2.14 to 24.20 per cent, and five-year averages 3.49 to 7.02 per cent. A good year says more about the market than about the manager; a five-year average is the harder and fairer test.
Where a fund has only a short record, none of this can help you, and that is a real limitation rather than a technicality. The longer the published record, the more of it is evidence rather than circumstance.
The table that follows gives each open fund’s full published record. Where a fund is new, the longer columns are blank, and that absence is itself information.
| Fund | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years | Since inception |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashplus Fund | 2.14% | 3.76% | — | — | 3.06% |
| Conservative Fund | 5.68% | 4.73% | — | — | 4.93% |
| Stepping Stones 76+ | 5.68% | 4.73% | — | — | 4.92% |
| Stepping Stones Growth 76+ | 5.68% | 4.73% | — | — | 4.92% |
| Stepping Stones 65-75 | 6.96% | 5.47% | — | — | 5.87% |
| Moderate Fund | 8.24% | 6.20% | 3.54% | 4.34% | 4.91% |
| Stepping Stones 61-64 | 8.24% | 6.20% | 3.49% | 4.55% | 5.12% |
| Stepping Stones Growth 61-75 | 8.24% | 6.20% | — | — | 6.82% |
| Stepping Stones 56-60 | 9.74% | 7.08% | 3.99% | 5.03% | 5.73% |
| Balanced Fund | 11.26% | 7.96% | — | — | 8.78% |
| Stepping Stones 46-55 | 11.26% | 7.96% | 4.31% | 5.79% | 6.66% |
| Stepping Stones Growth 56-60 | 11.26% | 7.96% | 4.31% | — | 6.53% |
| Growth Fund | 13.61% | 10.20% | 5.52% | 7.60% | 8.77% |
| Stepping Stones 36-45 | 13.61% | 10.20% | 5.54% | 7.20% | 8.36% |
| Stepping Stones Growth 51-55 | 13.61% | 10.20% | 5.54% | — | 8.20% |
| Global Fund | 21.19% | — | — | — | — |
| Thematic Fund | 24.20% | — | — | — | — |
| Australasian Fund | 5.56% | — | — | — | — |
| Focused Growth Fund | 16.61% | 12.54% | 6.41% | 8.75% | 10.32% |
| Stepping Stones 0-35 | 16.61% | 12.54% | 6.72% | 8.56% | 10.06% |
| Stepping Stones Growth 0-50 | 16.61% | 12.54% | 7.02% | — | 9.60% |
There are 21 open funds in total, and the table above shows the fifteen largest by value. Every fund is listed with its charge and one-year and five-year figures in the tables earlier, so you can check any of the rest there.
Ten of the open funds here have no five-year figure because they have not been running that long. We show a dash rather than a number that would not be comparable, so weigh those funds on their fee and strategy instead.
Where Generate KiwiSaver Sits Against the Alternatives
On entry cost, Generate KiwiSaver is the 17th cheapest of the 29 managers in our KiwiSaver table, with its cheapest fund charging 0.43 per cent. The cheapest manager charges 0.03 per cent and the dearest starts at 4.26 per cent.
| Manager | Charge range | Open funds |
|---|---|---|
| InvestNow | 0.03% to 1.38% | 45 |
| Sharesies | 0.09% to 1.49% | 11 |
| SuperLife | 0.20% to 1.26% | 50 |
| Milford | 0.20% to 1.15% | 6 |
| Kernel | 0.25% to 0.45% | 25 |
| Simplicity | 0.24% | 6 |
Cost is only one side of the ledger. The other is whether the return justifies it, which is what the five-year column is for. Neither number is predictive on its own, and a stretch that suits shares will always make the share-heavy funds look better than they are.
What You Put In, and What You Get Back
Contribution settings come from legislation rather than the provider, so they are identical across all schemes. The difference lies in what the manager does with the money afterwards, and that is where the fee begins to matter.
The default employee and employer rate is 3.5 per cent from 1 April 2026, and it rises 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, so about $4,900 a year goes into the account before any return.
The Government adds 25 cents for every dollar you contribute, up to a maximum of $260.72 a year. To receive the full amount, you must contribute at least $1,042.86 of your own money between 1 July and 30 June, and employer contributions do not count towards that threshold. If your taxable income is above $180,000 a year, you do not qualify.
The charge applies to the entire balance, not to each deposit. On a $50,000 balance, the lowest charge here, 0.43 per cent, is about $215 a year, and the highest, 1.27 per cent, is about $635. On $100,000, those figures double. Weigh that against the returns, since it is deducted regardless of the fund's performance.
Questions You Might Have
Which fund am I in?
Your KiwiSaver statement, or the online account you use to manage your savings, will show which fund your money is invested in and how it is split if you hold more than one. Check it before anything else, because the fund decides both the return and the charge.
How much will I pay?
Charges across the open funds run from 0.43 per cent to 1.27 per cent. It comes out of the fund’s returns, not your bank account, so you will not see a separate bill.
Is Generate KiwiSaver a default provider?
No. The appointed default providers are BNZ, Booster, Westpac (through BT Funds Management), Fisher Funds, Simplicity and Smartshares, with appointments running to December 2028. Generate KiwiSaver is a scheme you choose deliberately.
Can I change funds without changing provider?
Usually yes. Most schemes let you move between their own funds, or set a different split, through your online account at no cost, and the change takes effect without affecting your membership or your employer contributions. You only need to switch provider if the scheme itself is the problem.
Do I have to pick just one fund?
No. With 21 open funds, you can split your balance across several, allowing you to take more risk with part of your savings and less with the rest. The trade-off is that you have to keep track of the split yourself.
What happens to a closed fund?
If you already hold a fund that has closed to new members, you keep it and continue to pay the charge shown. Closing a fund stops new money coming in; it does not force existing members out, and it does not change your balance.
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. You can choose 4, 6, 8 or 10 per cent instead.
Does switching to or from Generate KiwiSaver cost anything?
No. Generate KiwiSaver records 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.
Why do some funds have no five-year figure?
Because they have not been running for five years. A fund launched in the last few years cannot have a five-year return, so the register leaves it blank rather than showing a figure that would not be comparable. We show the same dash.
What Matters Most
Generate KiwiSaver is a provider with a wide range of funds. The fee table above gives the current charge on every fund. The funds are numerous enough that you need to choose deliberately.
- The Cashplus Fund is the cheapest way in at 0.43 per cent.
- The strongest five-year record is the Stepping Stones Growth 0-50 at 7.02 per cent a year, and it carries the risk that produced it.
- Ten funds are too new to have a five-year record, so judge them on strategy and fee rather than past performance.
- Check which fund you are in before anything else, because it decides both the return and the charge.
The ValueHub Team built this site because finding clear, unbiased financial information in New Zealand was harder than it should be. Every guide is based on real research — we compare the actual fees, terms, and fine print so you don't have to. Our tip: shop around every year, read the policy docs, and never assume loyalty gets you the best deal.— The ValueHub Team
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