Aggressive KiwiSaver fund

Kernel NZ Small & Mid Cap Opportunities Fund

Kernel KiwiSaver Plan On Cam's implementation panel

Kernel NZ Small & Mid Cap Opportunities Fund is an aggressive fund in the Kernel KiwiSaver Plan. Its provider discloses a risk indicator of 5 out of 7 and an annual fund charge of 0.25%. This page sets out what the provider has disclosed on the Disclose Register, with the Morningstar return where there is one. It is general information, not a recommendation to join or switch.

3-year return: 11.9%a year after fees, before tax, Morningstar, as at 30 September 2026. No 5 or 10-year figure available
Risk indicator: 5 of 7Disclosed by the provider
Annual fund charge: 0.25%Total, as a share of the amount invested
Fund size: $874,018110 investors

Source: Morningstar KiwiSaver Survey, the three months to 30 September 2026, published 29 October 2026. Morningstar files it under Australasian Shares. Returns are annualised: each figure is a return per year, averaged across the period shown. Figures are net of the fund's annual charges and before your own tax. KiwiSaver is taxed at your prescribed investor rate, so two people in the same fund keep different amounts, and fixed dollar member fees are not reflected in a percentage. Past performance does not guarantee future returns.

What the provider says

The fund is passively managed and invests in NZX listed financial products whose normal free-float market capitalisation is between $75 million and $1.25 billion and who are outside of the S&P/NZX 20 Index

The fund's own description, as disclosed on the Disclose Register. Fund start date: 11 April 2022.

What the fund invests in

Asset mix
Asset class	Target	Actual
Australasian equities	100.00%	99.15%
Cash and cash equivalents	Not stated	0.85%

Actual allocation as at 30 June 2026. Asset classes held at 0% are left out.

How it is managed

Management style: Passive (index tracking). The fund tracks a market index rather than having a manager pick investments. This describes how the fund is run, not whether one style is better.

The fund is passively managed

From the Kernel KiwiSaver Plan PDS (Equities and Diversified), August 2025, on the Disclose Register (opens in a new tab), read on 31 October 2026.

Passive vs active KiwiSaver funds: what the difference means for you →

Largest investments

The ten largest investments
Investment	Type	Country	Share of fund
Channel Infrastructure NZ Ltd	Australasian equities	NZ	7.66%
Vital Healthcare Property	Australasian equities	NZ	6.42%
Scales Corporation Limited	Australasian equities	NZ	5.44%
Tower Limited	Australasian equities	NZ	3.71%
Argosy Property Ltd	Australasian equities	NZ	5.30%
Heartland Group Holdings Limited	Australasian equities	NZ	6.04%
Fonterra Shareholders' Fund	Australasian equities	NZ	4.39%
Skellerup Holdings Ltd	Australasian equities	NZ	7.47%
Air New Zealand Ltd	Australasian equities	NZ	3.94%
Stride Property Limited	Australasian equities	NZ	3.66%

Together 54.0% of the fund. The rest is spread across other holdings.

How spread out is it?

Spread of the fund's holdings
Measure	Disclosed
Holdings the provider lists	40
The ten largest, together	54.0%
Largest single holding	Channel Infrastructure NZ Ltd, 7.7% of the fund

The risk indicator measures how much a fund's returns have moved, not how many investments it holds, so it cannot show concentration on its own. Two funds that hold the same index can carry different indicators. Shares are as the provider disclosed them, and a total above 100% is the provider's own figure.

Fees and charges

Fees disclosed by the provider
Charge	Disclosed
Total annual fund charge	0.25%
Manager's basic fee	0.25%
Performance-based fees	0.00%
Other management charges	0.00%
Contribution fee	0.00%
Withdrawal fee	0.00%

Charges as a share of the amount invested. A blank on the register is shown as not stated. How an adviser is paid is separate, and is set out in our disclosure statement.

Returns the provider has disclosed

These are the provider's own figures from its fund update. They are the register's "net" returns, which are after the fund's charges and after tax, so they will not match the Morningstar figures in the headline and in the next section, which are after charges and before tax. Read each on its own terms.

Provider-disclosed returns
Period	This fund
Past year	8.45%
Average a year, since the fund started	-1.40%

Year by year, to 31 March
Year	This fund
12 months to 31 March 2026	11.94%
12 months to 31 March 2025	7.30%
12 months to 31 March 2024	0.78%

A return says what happened and not what will.

Returns reported by Morningstar

Morningstar annualised returns
Period	This fund
10 years	Not reported
5 years	Not reported
3 years	11.9%

Annualised returns a year as at 30 September 2026, from the Morningstar KiwiSaver Survey, published 29 October 2026. Returns are annualised: each figure is a return per year, averaged across the period shown. Figures are net of the fund's annual charges and before your own tax. KiwiSaver is taxed at your prescribed investor rate, so two people in the same fund keep different amounts, and fixed dollar member fees are not reflected in a percentage. Morningstar publishes category averages for its five multi-sector categories only, so there is none to show for this fund. Past performance does not guarantee future returns.

See the full Morningstar returns comparison → (opens in a new tab)

Other details

Other disclosed details
Item	Disclosed
Asset liquidity ratio	100.00%
Debt ratio	0.02%
Provider last updated this fund	4 August 2026
Reporting period ended	30 June 2026

Where this comes from

Fund details are from the Disclose Register (opens in a new tab), read on 31 October 2026. The Morningstar return is from the same report as the Morningstar returns comparison. Read the provider's current Product Disclosure Statement before you decide.

Cam compares KiwiSaver providers and funds across the wider NZ market, and a fund appearing here, or on his implementation panel, is not a recommendation. Whether a fund suits you depends on your goals, timeframe and comfort with risk. How Solid Steele is paid depends on the provider and is set out in the disclosure statement. A free KiwiSaver session is the way to see how it applies to you.

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