ManagedFunds.nz

Managed funds NZ

Independent reference on every retail managed fund offered to New Zealanders. 289 funds across 57 FMA-licensed managers, sourced from the FMA Disclose register. Fees, structure, tax, mandate — and the questions to ask before you invest.

Last reviewed 2026-05-22. We don't accept fees from fund managers for placement. Every fact links back to its source filing.

What is a managed fund?

A managed fund is a pooled investment vehicle. Investors buy units in the fund; the manager invests the combined money under a single mandate disclosed in the fund's Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Statement of Investment Policy and Objectives (SIPO). Returns and costs are allocated to unit-holders pro-rata. The structure exists because most individual investors don't have the time, expertise, or capital to build a diversified portfolio of securities directly — a managed fund delegates that work to a licensed manager in exchange for an annual fund charge.

In New Zealand, every retail managed fund offered to the public must be registered under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMCA), licensed by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), and supervised by an independent licensed supervisor. Scheme assets are held by an independent custodian — not the manager — and audited financial statements are filed annually. This site covers the 289 retail funds on the FMA Disclose register; wholesale-only funds (offered to high-net-worth investors under different rules) are not in scope here.

The eight categories we use

We group every fund into one of eight categories, mirroring the FMA Disclose taxonomy. The category is the manager's stated mandate — not a guarantee of underlying holdings, which drift between QFUs.

How to compare managed funds

Most "top-picks" articles in NZ are sponsored, FAP-licensed financial advice, or marketing copy from a manager. We are none of those. The right approach is mechanical:

  1. Match the mandate to your need. A 30-year-old saving for retirement and a 70-year-old drawing down have different risk and liquidity needs. The PDS describes the mandate; the SIPO sets the rules around how the manager can stray from it.
  2. Compare annual fund charges within the same category. Fees compound. A 1.5% fund and a 0.5% fund in the same category have a structural ~1.0% per-year disadvantage that the higher-fee fund must overcome with security selection. Over multi-decade investing horizons, even small annual differences accumulate into meaningful gaps in end-balance. Every fund page on this site surfaces the annual fund charge from the latest QFU.
  3. Read the SIPO sections on derivatives, currency hedging, and rebalancing. These describe how the manager actually runs the money, beyond the headline category.
  4. Check returns over multiple periods. 1-year returns are noise; 5-year returns are weakly informative; since-inception returns matter more when the fund has weathered a full cycle. Past returns do not predict future returns — but they reveal whether the manager has delivered against their stated benchmark.
  5. Verify the manager and supervisor. Both must hold an FMA licence. The PDS lists the parent company and any related-party transactions. Conflicts of interest are disclosed — read that section.

Side-by-side comparisons are at /compare/. Per-category league tables (sorted by annual fund charge, by since-inception return, by FUM) are at /categories/. To filter by goal — low fee, monthly income, ESG mandate, etc. — use /best/.

Annual fund charges, explained

The annual fund charge is the FMA-prescribed disclosure of all costs paid by investors, expressed as an annual percentage of assets under management. It rolls up the management fee (to the manager), the supervisor fee, custody and audit fees, and other recurring expenses. It does not typically include transaction costs (brokerage, settlement spread) or performance fees, which are disclosed separately.

Two funds in the same category can have annual fund charges from 0.20% (passive index funds) up to 1.50%+ (active boutique managers). The fee difference compounds over decades. There is no universal "right" fee — whether an active manager delivers enough excess return after fees to justify a higher charge is an empirical question that only multi-cycle, before-fee return data can answer. The conservative default is to favour lower-fee funds in efficient asset classes (US large-cap, NZ aggregate bonds, global investment-grade) and accept higher fees only where active management has a defensible thesis (small-cap, illiquid, frontier).

PIE tax, PIR, and your effective rate

Most NZ retail managed funds elect Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE) status under the Income Tax Act 2007. PIE funds tax investor income at the investor's Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), capped at 28%. The PIR depends on the investor's prior-two-years' total taxable income:

The PIR cap matters: an investor on the 39% marginal rate pays only 28% on PIE fund income, a structural saving versus the 39% they'd pay on bank interest. IRD reconciles wrong PIRs on the year-end tax return — supplying too low a PIR creates a square-up liability; too high overpays and may not be refundable. Funds also benefit from internal handling of Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) rules when holding offshore equities, which simplifies the investor's own tax position.

The IRD's PIE guidance is the authoritative reference. If your income changes meaningfully, update your PIR with the fund manager directly.

Risk — what the disclosure framework does and doesn't cover

The NZ regulatory framework reduces operational and disclosure risk. Every retail manager is licensed; every scheme has an independent supervisor; assets sit with an independent custodian; financial statements are audited. The PDS is required to describe the most material risks plainly. The FMA can investigate and act if disclosure is misleading.

The framework does not insulate investors from investment risk: unit prices fall as well as rise, there is no government guarantee, and past returns do not predict future returns. Diversified retail funds spread risk across hundreds of securities and multiple asset classes, but single-asset-class funds (pure international equities, listed property) have historically had 40-50% drawdowns in severe bear markets — and recovered over 3-7 years if the investor held through. The RBNZ Financial Stability Report covers system-level risks; individual fund PDSs cover scheme-specific risks.

Managed funds vs KiwiSaver funds

A KiwiSaver scheme fund is a managed fund wrapped inside the KiwiSaver scheme structure. Many managers offer the same underlying portfolio in both wrappers — e.g. a "Growth" fund as both a KiwiSaver fund and a retail managed fund. The differences are not in the investment strategy but in the wrapper:

For most New Zealanders, the question is not either/or but the mix — KiwiSaver to capture the employer + government top-up, plus an optional retail managed fund for the portion of savings that needs to be accessible before 65. Per Sorted Smart Investor for KiwiSaver-specific comparisons.

Who runs NZ managed funds

The 57 licensed managers in our coverage range from large bank-owned platforms (ANZ Investments, ASB, BNZ, Westpac) through specialist active managers (Milford, Fisher Funds, Harbour, Mint, Pie Funds), platform aggregators (InvestNow, Sharesies, Booster), to passive index providers (Smartshares, Kernel, Simplicity). Each has a different fee structure, distribution model, and investment philosophy. Manager profiles at /providers/ link to the manager's FMA Disclose page, FSP number, and parent company.

How this site is built

Every fund fact on this site is sourced from the FMA Disclose register, the manager's own PDS / SIPO / QFU, the IRD PIE rules, or the FMA Frequently Asked Questions. We do not paraphrase or interpret; where the source uses specific language, we quote it verbatim with a citation. Where the source is silent or ambiguous, we say so — we do not infer numbers that aren't disclosed. Methodology page documents the ingest pipeline, refresh cadence, and the rules we follow for what we will and will not publish.

We don't accept fees from managers for placement, ranking, or commentary. There are no sponsored funds; there is no "promoted" tier; the order in any league table is mechanical. We do plan to offer paid insights tooling to advisers and B2B users — that pricing is separate from the public directory, which is and will remain free.

Frequently asked questions

What is a managed fund in New Zealand?

A managed fund is a pooled investment vehicle where investor money is combined and managed under a single mandate by a licensed manager. In NZ, retail managed funds offered to the public must be registered under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMCA), regulated by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), and supervised by a licensed supervisor. Each scheme files a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), a Statement of Investment Policy and Objectives (SIPO), and quarterly Fund Updates (QFUs) to the FMA Disclose register. Managed funds cover diversified one-stop portfolios, asset-class specialists (equities, bonds, listed property), and cash funds.

How many managed funds are there in NZ?

Our coverage tracks 289 retail managed funds across 57 licensed managers — the population disclosed on the FMA Disclose register and active for public investment as at the most recent QFU. The total NZ fund universe is larger when wholesale-only funds and KiwiSaver-only schemes are included; for KiwiSaver, see /schemes/ and Sorted Smart Investor.

How do managed fund fees work?

Most NZ retail managed funds charge a total annual fund charge as a percentage of assets under management. Disclose categorises this into the management fee (paid to the manager), the supervisor fee, and other expenses. Some funds also charge a performance fee when returns exceed a benchmark. Fees compound over decades — meaningful differences in annual fund charges within the same category have a structural impact on long-term outcomes that the higher-fee fund must overcome with security selection. Every fund page on this site shows the disclosed annual fund charge and links to the source QFU.

What is the difference between a managed fund and a KiwiSaver fund?

A KiwiSaver scheme fund is a managed fund wrapped inside the KiwiSaver scheme structure with specific tax and withdrawal rules. Retail managed funds outside KiwiSaver have no government contribution, no employer contribution, and no withdrawal lock until age 65 — but they are also fully accessible at any time. Many managers offer the same underlying portfolio in both wrappers (e.g. "Growth" as both a KiwiSaver fund and a managed fund). Tax treatment differs: most funds in both wrappers use Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE) tax, capped at a 28% Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR) — usually advantageous for higher-bracket taxpayers.

How are managed funds taxed in New Zealand?

Most NZ managed funds elect Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE) status under the Income Tax Act 2007. PIE funds pay tax at the investor's Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), capped at 28%. The PIR depends on the investor's prior-two-years' total taxable income (10.5% / 17.5% / 28% bands). If the wrong PIR is supplied, IRD reconciles the difference on the year-end tax return. Non-PIE funds (a minority) tax all income at the investor's marginal rate. Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) rules typically do not apply when the manager holds offshore assets inside a PIE — the PIE handles foreign tax internally.

Are managed funds safe?

Managed funds carry investment risk — the unit price can fall as well as rise, and there is no government guarantee. The regulatory framework reduces operational and disclosure risk: every retail manager must hold a Manager licence (MIS Manager) from the FMA, every scheme must have an independent licensed supervisor, scheme assets are held by an independent custodian, and the PDS + QFUs are publicly auditable on the Disclose register. What the framework cannot prevent is poor investment outcomes from a fund's mandate, market falls, or sequence-of-returns risk. Past performance does not predict future returns.

How do I compare managed funds?

Compare on five dimensions: (1) mandate and category — does the asset allocation match your risk tolerance and time horizon; (2) annual fund charge — lower fees compound to a larger result over decades, all else equal; (3) PDS and SIPO substance — how the manager describes risk, derivatives use, currency hedging, and rebalancing; (4) historical returns over multiple periods (1yr / 5yr / since-inception), recognising that past returns do not predict future returns; (5) manager and supervisor — both must be FMA-licensed, and the manager's parent company and any conflicts of interest are disclosed in the PDS. This site provides side-by-side comparisons at /compare/ and per-category league tables at /categories/.

What is the FMA Disclose register?

The FMA Disclose register (disclose-register.companiesoffice.govt.nz) is the official New Zealand database of every registered managed investment scheme, KiwiSaver scheme, and superannuation scheme. It holds PDSs, SIPOs, QFUs, audited financial statements, and scheme-level updates. Every fund covered on this site links to its source Disclose page. Investors should verify any third-party data — including ours — against the latest Disclose filing before relying on it for a decision.

What does "annual fund charge" mean?

The annual fund charge is the FMA-prescribed disclosure of all costs paid by investors in a fund, expressed as an annual percentage of assets under management. It includes the management fee, supervisor fee, custody and audit fees, and other recurring costs. It does NOT typically include transaction costs (brokerage, settlement) or performance fees, which are disclosed separately. The annual fund charge appears on every QFU and is the single most comparable cost number across funds in the same category.

Can I lose all my money in a managed fund?

In principle yes — there is no government guarantee on managed-fund investments, and the unit price reflects the market value of underlying assets. In practice, diversified retail funds spread risk across hundreds of securities and multiple asset classes, so a total loss would require a market event severe enough that no diversified portfolio survives. Single-asset-class funds (e.g. pure international equities) have historically had drawdowns of 40-50% in severe bear markets and recovered over 3-7 years. Single-name security funds and concentrated specialty funds carry materially higher risk. Always read the PDS section "What are the risks?" — it is required to describe the most material risks plainly.

Where to from here

Information only — not financial advice (FMCA s23 / Schedule 1). Past returns do not predict future returns. Before investing, read the fund's PDS and SIPO. If you need personal financial advice, talk to an FMA-licensed Financial Advice Provider.