In terms of past performance, it’s difficult to say if the JUNO KiwiSaver scheme is good or not since it was only launched in 2018 and does not have a long enough history.
However, 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.
Note: The following information is taken from JUNO Kiwisaver Scheme’s own website, fund updates, and the product disclosure statement published as of August 2023.
A short summary review of the KiwiSaver provider
Updated: 18th August 2023
Reviewed by: Daniel O’Brien
JUNO KiwiSaver Scheme review
The JUNO KiwiSaver Scheme is one of the smaller KiwiSaver schemes in New Zealand.
They offer only three fund types, them being Conservative, Balanced, and Growth, which are diversified by sectors and assets allocations. JUNO believes in skilful active investing to achieve favourable long-term outcomes, capitalizing on mispriced assets. It emphasizes thorough research for optimal asset selection, seeks undervalued companies with latent market recognition, and prioritizes transparent communication with their investors.
JUNO charges annual funds fees ranging from 0.57% to 0.68%, plus an annual fee based on the account balance. Accounts under $5,000 have no additional fees, while accounts over $100,000 are charged a maximum of $1,080.
In closing
The approach taken by JUNO towards active management and responsible investing presents a promising opportunity for long-term wealth creation, despite the fact that its previous performance may not have placed it amongst the top KiwiSaver providers.
JUNO KiwiSaver Scheme was launched by Pie Funds Management Limited in 2018. Pie Funds is a boutique investment manager who has generated wealth for clients since 2007. The philosophy of Pie Funds is to outperform the markets by investing in growth companies.
The JUNO KiwiSaver Scheme manages a total of three funds, with Assets Under Management (AUM) valued at over $478 million. The scheme has a membership of more than 18,869 KiwiSaver members.
Mike Taylor – Chief Investment Officer & Founder
Mike is the Founder and CIO of Pie Funds and the JUNO KiwiSaver Scheme. He is also Portfolio Manager of the JUNO KiwiSaver Conservative Fund and the JUNO KiwiSaver Balanced Fund.
Mike started Pie Funds in 2007 because he believed most banks and fund managers were serial underperformers, and he thought there was a better way to manage money.
He bought his first shares at the age of 18. He went on to grow his own personal portfolio and then that of friends and family, before starting Pie Funds 10 years later. Mike then launched the JUNO KiwiSaver Scheme in 2018, because he believed JUNO could make a difference to Kiwis’ lives through its one, low, fixed fee, active management, and investor education.
Ana-Marie Locyer – Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director
Ana has over 25 years of experience in banking and finance. She held various executive positions at ANZ Bank and assumed governance roles for Pie Funds, ANZ Samoa, and the Financial Service Council. In addition, she worked at Henderson Global Investors in London and served as the CEO of AA Money.
Ana is a Chartered Accountant and member of the Australia Institute of Company Directors. She is passionate about financial literacy, savings, retirement outcomes for New Zealanders, and diversity in the financial services industry.
Grant Hodder – Head of Product and Operations
Grant oversees Pie Funds’ product strategy and market operations with 20 years of financial services experience. He previously worked on the ANZ Funds Management Leadership Team and in Investment Operations at ANZ. Grant is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and Marketing from Auckland University.
Guy Thornewill – Head of Global Research
As Head of Global Research and Senior Analyst at Pie, Guy conducts an in-depth analysis of global companies with precision. He has experience as a portfolio manager at Ruffer LLP in the UK and Hong Kong. Guy holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree from Oxford University in the UK and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Travis Murdoch – Head of Fixed Income and Portfolio Manager
Travis manages the JUNO’s and Pie Funds fixed income strategies and co-manages the Conservative Fund. He worked as a Portfolio Manager at Milford Asset Management before joining the company in 2022. Previously, he held various roles in the UK, including Portfolio Manager at JP Morgan Asset Management and Cairn Capital. Travis has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in finance and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Otago.
Michelle Lopez – Head of Australasian Equities and Portfolio Manager
Michelle is the Lead Portfolio Manager of the Australasian Growth 2 Fund and Co-Portfolio Manager of the Australasian Emerging Fund for Pie Funds. She oversees the Australian investment strategy, portfolios, and team implementation in Sydney. Prior to joining Pie Funds in 2023, Michelle spent 18 years as Head of Australian Equities at abrdn, where she managed a team and provided strategic insights for the Australian business as Director. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Finance and a Bachelor of Commerce from Macquarie University, Sydney, and is a CFA charterholder.
The Manager of the Scheme is Pie Funds Management Limited (“Pie Funds”), who is also the investment manager of the Scheme. The investment team at Pie Funds is made up of an executive team, responsible for the oversight and portfolio management of specific funds. In regards to the key personnel involved with the management of the Juno Growth fund, Mark Devich is responsible for the portfolio management of the fund, with one year and six months experience with this fund.
Pie Funds has delegated the performance of certain administration management functions for the Scheme (including registry) to MMC Limited (MMC). Pie Funds 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.
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 JUNO’s investment decision making process. JUNO believes that proactively managing ESG issues will deliver stronger long-term investment returns.
JUNO acknowledges that choosing the right KiwiSaver scheme, for most New Zealanders, can be a challenge. Because of this implication, JUNO commits to communicating information in the clearest and simplest ways possible.
All KiwiSaver Scheme 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.
JUNO’s custodian is MMC Limited. A custodian plays a key role in protecting your investments. 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 scheme 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 supervisor of the Scheme is Trustees Executors Limited (the ‘Supervisor’). The Supervisor is responsible for monitoring JUNO’s compliance in accordance with the Governing Document and the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (‘FMCA’). The supervisor is also responsible for supervising the Fund under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 and responsible for supervising Pie Funds as manager of the Scheme.
The Manager is a New Zealand owned and operated KiwiSaver specialist. The principal purpose of the JUNO KiwiSaver scheme is to provide retirement benefits to Members in accordance with the KiwiSaver Act and the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMCA). The Scheme is structured so that each fund is established as a separate trust, governed by a trust deed which appointed Pie Funds as manager and Trustees Executors Limited as a supervisor.
The Manager’s general philosophy states that as an active manager, skilled active investing delivers better long-term results especially in combination with low fees. The manager has an Investment Team (IT) which is made up of experienced investment professionals. The Investment Team is responsible for reviewing the funds and does so by monitoring news and price movements for companies invested in to check whether it affects their views on the companies. Further, IT also reviews the performance of the funds on a monthly and annual basis.
The Manager also runs internal spreadsheets daily to ensure consistency, and regularly reviews the target investment mix, rebalancing when needed.
An Investment Committee (IC) also regularly performs a risk assessment, including a review of liquidity, market and currency risk. The IC monitors compliance with the SIPO as well.
The Scheme is a managed investment scheme under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. The Scheme is governed by a Governing Document between Pie Funds and Trustees Executors Limited (‘Supervisor’). Each Fund is established as a separate trust within the Scheme.
The Manager’s role is to select investments that best achieve the aims of the Statement of Investment Policy and Objective ( SIPO), to exercise voting powers where appropriate in respect of these investments, to select external managers, to execute transactions to implement the investment strategy, monitoring adherence to this SIPO and reporting on this to the JUNO Investment Policy Committee and the Supervisor, and to make recommendations as to how the SIPO could be improved.
The Manager is also responsible for appointing any external managers, ensuring they are competent to manage the asset class they are responsible for, and monitoring their performance on a quarterly basis once they have been appointed. The performance of any external managers is reported to, and recommendations to appoint, or change an external manager are made to, the Investment Policy Committee
JUNO believes that the market often values or prices assets incorrectly and this provides opportunities. To take advantage, their Funds use an active investment strategy to help deliver the best long-term results to Members. Generally, this means buying assets when they are cheap and selling them when they are expensive. They believe that with their active investment approach, they can achieve above-average returns for their investors.
Active Management – They are an active manager and believe that skilled, active investing can deliver better long-term results in conjunction with their low fees.
Asset Research – They research the assets they invest in to determine
Key Competencies in Active Equities – JUNO is a high conviction manager, thus, they look for a relatively small number of companies they believe are mispriced, relative to the companies potential outlook. Therefore, they assume that the companies they choose:
Engagement with external organisations – Where they do not have key competencies in areas they believe will benefit investors, they will engage with other organisations – for example, research providers – that can provide the information they need.
Competent management of Environment, Social, and Governance (‘ESG’) – They believe that ESG matters and positively contribute to the long-term value of companies. Therefore, they integrate ESG into their investment process.
Transparency – They believe that communicating as clearly and as simply as possible to their stakeholders is the best way going forward. As such, they communicate about:
JUNO’s investment process relies on research of two kinds:
1st: Top-down’ research to identify any events or trends that may shape the risk and return of markets, sectors, industries, and individual securities
2nd: Bottom-up’ research to identify high-quality investments, based on a range of factors such as financial information, their view of valuations and experience of what influences asset prices, current price, and – for equities – their view of the quality of the board and management of companies.
Their investment process for investing in individual companies:
Start
1 Research of macroenvironment and competitor investments; then
2 Analysis into if a company is good quality; then
3 Identifying is the company is mispriced; finally
4 Monitoring and managing the company.
End
The Investment Team reviews the Funds in several ways:
Additionally, the Investment Committee does regular, detailed reviews of each Fund. This includes a risk assessment that considers liquidity, stock market and currency risk, the weightings of each position, the overall composition of the Funds, and the Funds’ overall compliance with their SIPO.
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.
As per the JUNO ESG document, across all JUNO funds, including their KiwiSaver funds, investments into companies involved in the following activities are excluded:
Additionally, JUNO will weigh all investments in funds towards companies and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) with lower carbon emissions and smaller fossil fuel reserves.
JUNO may also decide to exclude companies, if we believe their activities – what they do, how they do it, or both – is against the ESG policy or otherwise poses undue ESG risk.
*Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance.
*All returns are per annum after fees and tax (28% PIR) as of the quarter ended 30th September 2024.
*Source: National Capital Research
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