There’s a lot more to selecting a KiwiSaver fund than just checking past returns and fees. If your hard-earned money is invested in KiwiSaver, you need to ask the important questions to understand where and how that money is invested.
If you want to check your account performance, you can do so via the Generate KiwiSaver login above. If you have any trouble signing in, here’s our dedicated troubleshooting section about the Generate KiwiSaver login.
Note: The following information is taken from Generate Kiwisaver Scheme’s own website, fund updates, and the product disclosure statement published as of August 2023.
Updated: 8th August 2023
Reviewed by: Daniel O’Brien
Generate KiwiSaver Scheme Review
Generate KiwiSaver Scheme offers six different KiwiSaver Funds, ranging from a low-risk Defensive fund to a higher-risk Focused Growth fund. Generate offers a ‘Stepping Stones’ service, which automatically selects investments in its funds based on your age and will reduce your risk as you get older. Alternatively, you can manually change between funds through the Generate KiwiSaver Login.
Generate uses an active investment management strategy across its funds, as it believes actively choosing which investments are included in the fund will generate greater returns. Generate employs a responsible investment approach, which includes negative screening and ESG integration.
Generate charges annual fees that range between 0.79%-1.31%. The provider also charges a yearly membership fee of $36. It is free to switch between different funds within the scheme, and there are no joining or exit fees if you decide to switch providers.
In general, the returns of Generate KiwiSaver funds in the last 5 years have been higher than the average KiwiSaver returns from other funds providers.
In closing
Generate has been exceeding the average KiwiSaver fund’s performance in two out of three categories for the last five years, even when fees and taxes are taken into account. To access your actual account returns, refer to the dedicated section for logging in to your Generate KiwiSaver Login.
*Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance.
*List is of the highest 5-year returns A-rated funds as per our Investment Selection Process.
*All returns are after fees and tax (28% PIR) as of the quarter ended 30th June 2024.
*Source: National Capital Research August 2024
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Generate is a New Zealand owned and operated KiwiSaver specialist. Over the last six years, Generate has led its industry with more than 90% of all new Generate KiwiSaver members speaking to an adviser before they join. New Zealand owned and operated, Generate’s investment decisions are made by an investment committee which is made up of experienced investment professionals. They generally invest in funds that have substantial funds under management and are run by well-resourced teams of investment managers and research analysts located around the world.
The Generate KiwiSaver Scheme manages six funds and has total Assets Under Management (AUM) of over $3.3 billion and 113,665 members as of the Generate KiwiSaver Scheme Annual Report (31 March 2022).
– Generate awarded a Trusted Brand Award by Reader’s Digest (2023)
– Generate wins Consumer NZ People’s Choice Award for the second year in a row (2023)
Sam Goldwater – Portfolio Manager, Director & Investment Committee Member
Sam has over 20 years of financial markets experience. Locally he worked in fixed income sales and trading for the National Bank of New Zealand Treasury, co-managed the bond desk at First NZ Capital, and immediately prior to Generate led the investment management of a sizable portfolio of family assets. He also worked for three years in London in fixed income trading and origination. Sam co-founded Generate in late 2012.
Scott Weenink – Chairman
Scott, who has a background as an M&A and corporate finance lawyer, has broad governance and executive experience and is currently Chairman of the Board of Generate. His other current board roles include Asset Finance Limited (Chairman), the New Zealand Cricket Players Association (Chairman) and Enable Networks. Scott, who is admitted to the Bar in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom, has a Masters in Law from Oxford University.
Henry Tongue – CEO, Director & Investment Committee member
Henry has 19 years’ experience in the financial markets, beginning as an equity analyst for a New Zealand stockbroking firm before moving to London in 1999. In London, he worked as an analyst for Credit Suisse and Abbey National. Returning to New Zealand in 2003, Henry joined a private investment company in the management of their Australasian equity and property portfolio. From 2007 until 2011 he was Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for investments across all asset classes at Huljich Wealth Management. Henry co-founded Generate in late 2012.
Peter Brook – Non-executive Director & Investment Committee Chairman
Peter has over 20 years’ experience in the investment banking industry, retiring to pursue his own business and consultancy activities. He is currently a director of Argosy Property Limited, Chairman of Burger Fuel Group Ltd and Trust Investments Management Limited. Peter is also a Trustee of the Melanesian Mission Trust Board, a member of the Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand Inc., and a director of several other private companies.
Nick Bowden – Investment Committee member
Nick is an advisor to a London based fund manager. He has over 20 years’ experience working with various financial institutions and investment firms in New York and London.
He has primarily focused on investment portfolios but in addition, he brings deep operational experience in dealing with the changing risk and regulatory environments. Nick also worked at First Union in New York, which became part of Wells Fargo, from 1995-1999 in an institutional sales role.
The Manager of the Scheme is to Generate Investment Management Limited (“Generate”), who is also the investment manager of the Scheme. The investment team at Generate is made up of a four-person executive team (listed in the previous section), responsible for the oversight and portfolio management of specific funds. In regards to the key personnel involved with the management of the Generate Growth fund, Sam Goldwater is responsible for the portfolio management of the fund, with six years and nine months’ experience with this fund.
Generate has delegated the performance of certain administration management functions for the Scheme (including registry) to MMC Limited (MMC). Generate and MMC are reimbursed from the Scheme’s assets for the day-to-day administration of members’ balances and for maintaining the member register for the Scheme. You can keep track of your own balance through the Generate KiwiSaver login.
Generate is proud to say that 95% of new Generate KiwiSaver Members surveyed rated their Generate advisers 4 or 5 out of 5 when asked: “Can you rate the experience out of 5 – with 1 being not very informative or helpful and 5 being really valuable information and a good use of my time”.
Over 70,000 Kiwis have joined Generate through an adviser… at no cost to them. That advice has resulted in Generate having one of the highest rates of members in growth funds and one of the highest rates of members getting some or all of their annual Government contributions. This according to Generate adds significant value in retirement to the relevant members. They also have one of the highest rates of net transfers from other KiwiSaver schemes which Generate claims is a reflection of their focus on advice, returns, and service.
In its unique value for money assessment SuperRatings has awarded Generate a Gold Rating every year from 2016 to 2019. The rating methodology looks for KiwiSaver schemes that “offer the greater potential to maximise the retirement savings of its members in a well serviced, secure environment whilst offering suitable, well-priced benefits such as member education and quality impartial financial advice”.
All KiwiSaver Providers must ensure they meet regulatory standards and act with customer interests in mind.
KiwiSaver Scheme Managers must exercise care, diligence, and skill in the investment of scheme assets and act in accordance with the stated investment policy and objectives. The FMA monitors that KiwiSaver Schemes are compliant with their obligations. Additionally, KiwiSaver Scheme Trustees also have a responsibility as front-line supervisors for monitoring the management and administration of these schemes. Essentially, regulatory bodies are in charge of enforcing compliance beyond what you can see through your Generate KiwiSaver login.
The Supervisor and Custodian of the Scheme are the Public Trust (PT). The PT is responsible for the Scheme’s supervision and the performance of Generate’s duties as manager of the Scheme. The PT is independent of Generate and is regulated by the Financial Markets Authority.
A custodian plays a key role in protecting your KiwiSaver investment. They hold your money and investments (i.e., keep custody of them) on your behalf. So they are the legal holder of your assets while you are the beneficial and ultimate owner.
A supervisor is a licensed entity independent of a KiwiSaver provider that supervises the provider’s management of the scheme. KiwiSaver schemes are trusts, and (except for restricted KiwiSaver schemes) the terms of the trust deed states that the supervisor (or another custodian) must hold all contributions and investments in trust for the investors.
The Manager is a New Zealand owned and operated KiwiSaver specialist. The purpose of the Generate KiwiSaver Scheme is to help you save for your retirement and provide you with retirement benefits. The Scheme is a registered KiwiSaver scheme under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMCA). The Scheme is structured as a unitised trust, governed by a trust deed which appointed Generate as manager and Public Trust as a supervisor.
The Manager’s general philosophy is that markets are inefficient and that an actively managed portfolio of diversified assets can exploit these inefficiencies. The manager has an Investment Committee (IC), which is made up of experienced investment professionals. The Investment Committee (IC) is responsible for overseeing the Scheme’s investment decisions that are made by the Investment Executive (IE) and monitoring compliance with the SIPO. The members of the IC or IE may change from time to time without notice to you. The IE is made up of senior members of the investment team and the CEO.
The long-term performance objective of each of the Funds is to outperform (before fees, expenses, and tax) the notional return of the relevant benchmark index over the long term. You can track performance through the Generate KiwiSaver login page.
Generate’s International Equities investments are predominantly made through third-party underlying funds that invest in equities. They look for third-party underlying funds that have proven themselves with outstanding track records over a long period of time. Some of the third-party underlying funds may use other securities and have the ability to short-sell assets and use leverage.
When researching and monitoring these underlying funds, amongst other things, Generate ask themselves the following criteria:
Investment philosophy and strategy – Do they have a clearly articulated philosophy and strategy, and do they agree with that strategy based on their view of the investment environment?
Ownership and alignment of interest – Does the ownership structure and business model of the fund and the Underlying Fund give the right incentives to maximise risk-adjusted returns for the investment?
Investment team experience, track record, and stability of personnel – Does the investment team have the right skills and depth? Have they proven they can outperform over a long period of time? Have they worked together over a number of cycles and had a low turnover of staff?
Portfolio Management – Does the fund fit into the wider portfolio, and does it provide adequate diversification? Independent auditor – The fund’s auditor must be independent and reputable.
Leverage – They prefer funds that have no or what are considered acceptable levels of leverage.
Liquidity – They prefer funds with large funds under management and that have good liquidity.
Fees – Do the fees offer good value, in their opinion? Does the addition of a particular fund keep the overall fee structure at a reasonable level?
Custodian – The custodian of the fund should be independent or an independent function within a larger organisation.
Regulator and jurisdiction – All investment funds must be regulated in a well recognised jurisdiction. We (Generate) also invest directly into international equities. These stocks have large capitalisations (greater than USD $25 billion).
Generate’s Property and Infrastructure investments are predominantly Australasian property and infrastructure listed securities. When researching and monitoring Property and Infrastructure assets, amongst other things, Generate asks themselves the following criteria:
Property portfolio – Quality and mix of commercial, industrial, retail and/or residential assets. Quality of the tenants and the lease terms.
Infrastructure portfolio – Quality of the infrastructure assets, their life cycle and business model characteristics.
Market capitalisation and liquidity – Tend to prefer investments with substantial market capitalisation and good liquidity.
Distribution – What is their distributions history and what are future expectations?
Strategy – What are the company’s intentions in regards to future growth and capital expenditure?
Management – How are they regarded and what is their track record?
Debt – Are their debt levels acceptable?
Pricing – Does the current price reflect fair value?
Portfolio Management – Does the asset fit into the wider portfolio and does it provide adequate sector diversification?
Generate’s Fixed Interest investments can include loans to the Government, local authorities, banks and corporations. The borrower pays interest on the loan. The value of fixed interest investments change with movements in interest rates. Ordinarily, these loans return capital plus a fixed return over time.
Below are the criteria that Generate measures when deciding where to invest:
Creditworthiness – Where rated, Generate has an ‘investment grade’ minimum for their fixed-interest securities. They look at the rating of the issue and issuer. Where the fixed-interest securities are unrated, they can invest in the issue if, in their opinion, the issue is of equivalent quality.
Portfolio management – How does the addition of a security affect the sector and issuer diversification? How does it affect the maturity profile of the portfolio?
Structure – What are the specific terms of the issue?
Liquidity – Does the issue have good liquidity?
Pricing – Do they think the current price reflects fair value?
The Manager also takes into account the following empirically supported investment philosophies in determining the most appropriate investment strategy for each Fund:
Benefits of Direct Securities.
Managed funds on the other hand are limited to implement the core strategy to only those investment vehicles suited to New Zealand-based longer-term investors. Therefore, part of the due diligence undertaken in selecting the managers of these vehicles will be focused on ensuring they have an appropriately documented approach to optimising tax outcomes resulting from their underlying investment philosophy and process.
The Investment Executive (IE) continually reviews tactical asset allocation and makes
changes / new investments as described earlier. Asset allocation and investment strategy is reviewed by the IC every two months at the IC meeting. Long-term Target Asset Allocations are formally reviewed by the IC at least once every two years.
The IE updates the Portfolio Valuation Report on a daily basis and the Administrator provides daily unit pricing (with a one business day delay). Daily changes in the Portfolio Valuation Report are reconciled with the Administrator’s daily unit pricing. The daily unit pricing is used to monitor the performance of each of the Funds, generally on a daily basis. You can check unit pricing through the Generate KiwiSaver login every day (with a one-business-day delay). Absolute performance is reported to the Supervisor as part of the Manager’s report on a monthly basis and relative performance versus the Funds’ benchmarks is reported quarterly in the Manager’s report. The performance figures reported to the Supervisor are after fees but before tax. Absolute performance is disclosed on their website and on the Disclose Register on a quarterly basis via their fund updates. Performance figures disclosed in their fund updates include returns after fees and both before and after tax.
Socially responsible investing (SRI) or Environmental, Social and Governance investing (ESG), also known as sustainable, socially conscious, “green” or ethical investing, is any investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social/environmental good to bring about social change regarded as positive by society.
Basically, SRI investing is investing in companies that have a positive impact on society, based on a number of factors.
Investing in a way that incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, manages risk and generates sustainable long-term returns is an important consideration in Generate Investment Management Limited’s (Generate) investment decision making process. Generate believes that proactively managing ESG issues will deliver stronger long-term investment returns.
Generate became a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) on 9 May 2018. As an investment manager signatory, they have declared their commitment to the UNPRI regarding responsible investment.
Generate has committed to:
As per the Generate Responsible Investment Policy document, across all Generate funds, including their KiwiSaver funds. Specifically, direct and Underlying Fund investments into companies involved in the following activities are excluded:
An investment will not be eligible for inclusion on the AIL if it is an excluded investment. On a six-monthly basis, the Investment Executive will repeat Generates’ due diligence on a sample of the AIL, or at any time if relevant material information becomes available. If a directly held AIL investment is discovered to contravene their excluded investments, Generate will sell the investment in an orderly fashion to protect members’ interests.
In addition to the above listed excluded investments Generate will avoid investing directly in companies that have displayed behaviour that they determine shows a complete disregard for Generates’ approach to responsible investing. They will take into account any evidence of change in company activities or behaviour when making these exclusion decisions.
The following roles are responsible for the execution, management, and oversight of the Responsible Investment Policy:
The Generate Responsible Investment Policy will be reviewed annually or more regularly as required. During this review, the persons responsible will consider developments in responsible investing practices. This policy is subject to change at any time.
The screenshot of the Generate KiwiSaver login page is for educational purposes only.
Click here to be directed to the Generate KiwiSaver login page.
If you want to check your account performance, we have dedicated this section to accessing your Generate KiwiSaver Login.
Most importantly, you will need your email and password to access your Generate KiwiSaver login.
If you have lost your password, and can’t access the Generate KiwiSaver login, select ‘Forgotten your password?’. After that, enter your email address and wait for instructions sent to your inbox.
Once you have successfully completed the Generate KiwiSaver login process, you can view the full details of your investments. This includes all transaction information and how much you have saved so far. Through the Generate KiwiSaver login you can track your performance from a monthly range to as far as account inception. Furthermore, the online Generate KiwiSaver login allows you to make additional contributions or apply for a first home purchase withdrawal.
More specifically, if you want to make additional contributions at regular intervals it is simple to do so. Once you’ve logged in, you will find ‘Set up a Direct Debit’ on the left-hand side menu. There you can enter the amount, start date, frequency, bank account name, and number securely through your Generate KiwiSaver login.
To obtain a first home eligibility letter, you can also do so through the online Generate KiwiSaver login. Select ‘My Details’ on the left-hand side of your screen where you should see a button saying ‘First Home Withdrawal’.
Therefore, access to your Generate KiwiSaver login is about more than just checking your balance. It allows you to take financial action quickly and securely. In fact, this is the case with other providers too, not just Generate.
Generate KiwiSaver Scheme Annual Report
Generate KiwiSaver Scheme Statement of Investment Policy and Objectives (SIPO)
Generate KiwiSaver Scheme Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)
Generate KiwiSaver Scheme Other Material Information (OMI)
Generate KiwiSaver Scheme Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
