Highest band on the FMA scale
Risk indicator 7 — NZ managed funds
Funds with the FMA standardised risk indicator of 7 sit at the highest band on the 7-point scale. The indicator is calculated from the past five years of unit-price volatility and is published in every Quarterly Fund Update on the FMA Disclose register.
NZ funds at band 7 in our coverage are a small cohort — typically narrow thematic funds, single-country equity exposure, or strategies with concentrated single-name holdings. Single-year drawdowns above 40% are plausible at this band and have occurred in historical bear markets.
2 of 284 tracked funds with on-file FMA risk indicator. Data from Sorted Smart Investor (sourced from FMA Disclose Quarterly Fund Updates).
- Smart Bitcoin ETFSmartshares · OtherPIE · capped at PIR (max 28%) ETF · BTC Thematic0.55% fee 7/7 risk
- Lighthouse Global Equity FundLighthouse · International EquitiesPIE · capped at PIR (max 28%)1.03% fee 7/7 risk
Other risk bands
How the FMA risk indicator is calculated
The standardised risk indicator is published on every NZ fund's Product Disclosure Statement and Quarterly Fund Update. It is calculated from the standard deviation of the fund's monthly returns over the past five years, then mapped to a 1–7 band per the FMA's Risk Indicators for Managed Investment Schemes framework.
It is backward-looking — a band-4 fund today may move to band 5 next quarter if recent volatility increases. It also doesn't capture every kind of risk: a fund holding a single illiquid asset can have low historical volatility (giving a low band) while carrying material liquidity risk that the indicator doesn't reflect.
Cross-validate via the per-fund page which links to the source Quarterly Fund Update on the FMA Disclose register.
ManagedFundsNZ provides information only, not personalised financial advice. For advice, see a licensed financial adviser.