Diversified Funds · median of disclosed returns
Average diversified fund returns in NZ, year by year
The median after-fee return across NZ retail diversified managed funds for each year on record, next to the median of the market indexes those funds measure themselves against. Every underlying number is a disclosed figure from an FMA-mandated fund update; nothing is modelled. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
Median 5y return
3.18%
p.a. after fees, 39 funds reporting
Strongest median year
17.98%
2021
Weakest median year
-2.35%
2023
Median return by year
| Year | Median fund return | Median index return | Funds in sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 6.24% | 9.82% | 59 |
| 2025 | 4.10% | 6.32% | 27 |
| 2024 | 12.20% | 13.97% | 18 |
| 2023 | -2.35% | -2.36% | 12 |
| 2022 | 0.98% | 2.49% | 32 |
| 2021 | 17.98% | 19.45% | 27 |
| 2020 | -1.50% | -0.88% | 22 |
| 2019 | 5.69% | 8.61% | 19 |
| 2018 | 4.83% | 6.00% | 14 |
| 2017 | 4.88% | 6.51% | 13 |
| 2016 | 4.09% | 4.99% | 11 |
| 2015 | 11.78% | 13.98% | 8 |
| 2014 | 8.36% | 8.22% | 8 |
| 2013 | 13.38% | 12.70% | 8 |
"Median index return" is the median of the market-index figures each fund disclosed alongside its own return — indexes differ between funds. Years with fewer than 3 reporting funds are omitted. Fund-level detail: all diversified funds · 5-year leaderboard · fund-vs-index consistency.
Questions about category averages
What is the average return of a diversified fund in NZ?
Across NZ retail diversified funds with a reported figure, the median 5-year after-fees return is 3.18% p.a. In the most recent year on record (2026), the median after-fee return was 6.24% across 59 funds. "Average" here means the median of disclosed figures — not a forecast. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
Why use the median rather than the mean?
A handful of outlier funds can drag a mean up or down; the median is the middle fund, which better represents what a typical fund in the category actually returned. Every underlying figure is a disclosed after-fee return from the fund's own FMA-mandated fund update.
How often do diversified funds lose money?
Of the 14 years on record here, the category's median after-fee return was positive in 12 and negative in 2. The weakest median year was 2023 (-2.35%). Individual funds vary around the median in both directions.