Consultation on KiwiSaver fees methodology

Media release
MR No. 2017 – 15
11 April 2017

KiwiSaver members will be able to see the dollar cost of the fees they are paying in their annual statements next year. The Ministry of Business and Innovation and Employment (MBiE) is currently amending the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations so that individual members’ total fees must be disclosed in annual statements in dollar values, from March 2018.

Following this Government policy decision, the FMA is consulting on how those fees should be calculated and disclosed. A key objective for the FMA is ensuring that all KiwiSaver providers calculate the dollar figure for individual fees in the same way. The consultation paper proposes a method that balances the need for accuracy, and recognises that there will be costs for providers to make the necessary changes to their systems.

The FMA has been discussing these proposals with industry before launching today’s consultation.

Paul Gregory, FMA Director of External Communications and Investor Capability thinks that including fees in dollar amounts is a positive step towards improving the information available for KiwiSaver members. “The annual statement offers a unique opportunity for providers to engage with their investors, and help them make good decisions about their investment.

We discovered in last year's survey that KiwiSaver investors do read their statements and have a strong appetite for information that aids their decision-making. Investors told us that one of the pieces of information they wanted to see is their fees in dollars” Mr Gregory said.

KiwiSaver fees methodology consultation. Deadline for submissions is 5 May 2017.

The FMA’s KiwiSaver trends report based on consolidated data from providers’ annual reports

FMA 2016 survey into KiwiSaver annual statements report

ENDS

Contact:
Andrew Park
Ph: 021 220 6770
[email protected]