Five new schemes on my KiwiSaver implementation panel

Until this week I could implement a change of KiwiSaver scheme through five providers: Generate, Milford, Pathfinder, Fisher Funds and Booster. As of today there are ten. Kernel Wealth, Kōura Wealth, QuayStreet, SBS Wealth and Smart KiwiSaver have been added, and the provider comparison page, the disclosure statement and the homepage have all been updated to match.

Here is what that actually means, what each of the five brings, and the part most advisers would rather not put in writing: three of them change what you pay.

First, the distinction that matters most

There are two different things going on, and they get collapsed together constantly. They should not be.

What I compare is the wider New Zealand market. There are currently 29 registered KiwiSaver providers, and my review looks across them, including whichever scheme you are in right now. That has always been true and it has not changed. If your existing provider is the right home for your money, I will tell you so, even if it is a provider I have no agreement with at all.

What I can implement is the panel. When a review concludes that a change of scheme is right for you, the panel is the set of schemes I can actually move you into and then look after. That list is what went from five to ten.

So the panel getting bigger did not widen my comparison. It widened the set of answers I can act on. It also, honestly, made the list a bit less blunt an instrument: with five schemes there were sensible outcomes I could describe but not deliver, and you would have had to go and do it yourself.

Why these five

What I wanted was depth of choice, in three specific directions.

The first was portfolio construction. Most schemes put you in one diversified fund and that is the end of it. Kōura Wealth does not work that way, and for some people a portfolio built across single-sector funds is a better fit than an off-the-shelf label.

The second was a dedicated socially responsible option inside an actively managed range. Pathfinder has been the ethical specialist on my panel for a long time and remains the strongest on that front, but not everyone who cares about where their money goes wants a full ethical-specialist scheme. QuayStreet has a single, clearly identified Socially Responsible Investment fund sitting alongside eleven conventional ones.

The third was another NZ owned, bank-backed option. SBS Wealth is a wholly owned subsidiary of Southland Building Society, trading as SBS Bank, and it is 100% New Zealand owned. For clients who weigh ownership, that is a genuine alternative rather than a repeat of what was already there.

Kernel Wealth and Smart KiwiSaver came in alongside them, and they change the shape of the panel more than anything else on this list. The original five are all active managers. Adding those two means the panel now covers index-tracking, low-cost schemes as well, which it simply did not before.

The criteria are written down in the disclosure statement, and they are the same ones I apply to all ten: investment approach, long-term performance, fees, fund choice, responsible investment options, service, technology and suitability for different types of KiwiSaver member. Being on the panel does not make a scheme right for you. It only means I can implement it if it is.

The five, one at a time

Every figure below was verified on 30 August 2026 against the provider's own fee page or Product Disclosure Statement. The full side-by-side table for all ten schemes, with sources and verification dates, is on the comparison page. I have not included any performance or return figures here, because I have not gathered them for these five and I am not going to quote numbers I have not checked.

Kernel Wealth

Index-tracking, and the cheapest ceiling on the panel by a clear margin. Most of its 25 funds charge 0.25% a year, rising only to 0.45% on Emerging Markets and Global Clean Energy. The next-lowest ceiling among the other nine schemes is 0.70%. There is no fixed member fee at all, and no contribution, withdrawal, establishment or termination fees.

The range is High Growth, Balanced, Conservative, Cash Plus, US Bond and NZ Bond, plus 19 single-sector index funds covering NZ, Australian, global, emerging market, property, infrastructure and thematic exposures. The equity funds track named indices such as the S&P/NZX 20 and the S&P Global 100; the Cash Plus and NZ Bond funds are actively managed. Four ESG options, including an NZ 50 ESG Tilted fund and a Global Clean Energy fund. Account access is through an online portal.

Best for: keeping costs down across a wide range of index exposures.

Kōura Wealth

Predominantly passive, and the one scheme on the panel that builds you a portfolio rather than putting you in a fund. Ten single-sector funds, from NZ Cash through to a Bitcoin fund, are combined using Kōura's digital advice tool, or you can pick one of three ready-made strategies. The mix is rebalanced every six months.

Annual fund charges run 0.63% to 1.10%, with the pre-set strategies between 0.75% and 1.03%. Kōura caps its annual fund charges and bears any excess. There is a fixed member fee of $30 a year, which is $2.50 a month, for members aged 18 or over. The Clean Energy Fund is the ethical option. Access is through an online portal and the digital advice tool.

Best for: wanting a portfolio shaped around you rather than an off-the-shelf fund.

QuayStreet

Twelve actively managed funds, run through an external investment manager, with some funds investing via specialist sub-managers. The range is Fixed Interest, Income, Conservative, Balanced, Socially Responsible Investment, Growth, High Growth, New Zealand Equity, Australian Equity, International Equity, International Equity (NZD Hedged) and Altum.

Annual fund charges run 0.74% to 1.38%. The Altum Fund may charge a performance fee of 15% of returns above the OCR plus 6%, subject to a high water mark, and none was charged in the year to 31 March 2026. The Balanced, Growth and High Growth funds each include an estimated 0.01% performance fee through their Altum holding. The fixed member fee is up to $30 a year, charged in October and April, plus scheme expenses of about $5 a year; members under 18 are not charged the administration fee. Account access is through an online portal.

Best for: active management with a dedicated socially responsible option.

SBS Wealth

Issued by SBS Wealth Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southland Building Society trading as SBS Bank, and 100% New Zealand owned. The investment team manages the funds actively, on a strategic basis, with an approach that prioritises reducing downside risk.

The range is Focused Growth, High Growth, Income and Cash, plus five age-based Lifestages options: Aggressive, Growth, Balanced, Moderate and Conservative. Annual fund charges run 0.45% to 1.20%, with the Lifestages options between 0.92% and 1.20%. There is no fixed member fee, and no contribution, establishment, termination or withdrawal fees currently charged. Responsible investment, including environmental, social and governance factors, is applied across the whole range rather than through a separately branded ethical fund. There is a mobile app as well as an online account portal.

Best for: steady returns from a 100% NZ owned provider.

Smart KiwiSaver

Mostly index-tracking, and the widest range of any passively managed scheme on the panel: 40 funds in total, including 35 sector funds spanning everything from Emerging Markets to NZ Dividends. The headline options are Income, Conservative, Balanced, Growth and High Growth, plus the Default Fund, the Ethica ethical fund, NZ Cash and the age-based Age Steps option, with further guest manager and sector funds listed on the provider's own site.

Annual fund charges run 0.20% to 0.70%. The Default Fund is 0.20%, the diversified funds are 0.56% to 0.63%, and Ethica is 0.70%. That 0.20% is one of the two cheapest charges on the panel, alongside the bottom of Milford's range. The fixed member fee is $30 a year, and it is not charged if all your money is in the Default Fund. There is a mobile app as well as an online account portal.

One thing to know before you open the paperwork: the scheme is still legally issued as the SuperLife KiwiSaver scheme and is rebranding to Smart KiwiSaver, so the PDS you download will say SuperLife on the front.

Best for: low-cost index investing covering multiple sectors.

The part about how I get paid

This is the bit worth reading twice, because the panel expansion genuinely changed it.

Under most of the arrangements on my panel, the provider remunerates Solid Steele directly and there is no additional Solid Steele adviser fee charged to your KiwiSaver account. Of the five new schemes, QuayStreet and SBS Wealth work that way, the same as the original five.

Kernel Wealth, Kōura Wealth and Smart KiwiSaver are different, and they are the first three schemes on my panel where this applies. Each supports an advised KiwiSaver arrangement under which Solid Steele charges an adviser fee of 0.25% per annum of your balance, in addition to the fund's underlying management fee. Kernel calls its arrangement the Advised KiwiSaver Solution and Kōura calls its one the Kōura Navigator Service; Smart KiwiSaver's formal term has not been confirmed to me yet, so I am not going to invent one.

To be precise about who charges what: that fee is my remuneration, facilitated through the advised arrangement. It is not a charge those providers levy. If the underlying fund charge is 0.25% a year and my adviser fee is 0.25% a year, the combined figure is 0.50% a year before any other fees and costs.

Different providers paying me differently is a conflict of interest. The honest thing to do with a conflict is disclose it and manage it, not pretend it is not there, so: the amounts, the mechanism and the provider-by-provider detail are all set out in the disclosure statement. I will always tell you which arrangement applies, and what it costs, before you decide whether to go ahead.

What has not changed: the session is free, the comparison is free, and there is no obligation to act on any recommendation I make.

What this does not change

Three things worth saying plainly, because a longer panel can be misread as a bigger sales list.

I still compare the wider market. The review looks across the 29 registered KiwiSaver providers, not across these ten. Market-wide return data is on the Morningstar returns page.

Staying put is still a recommendation I make. Regularly. If your current scheme and fund suit your timeframe, your risk tolerance and what you are actually going to do with the money, the right advice is to leave it alone, and that holds whether or not your provider is on the panel.

Ten is still a filter. It is a deliberate choice about who I am willing to put clients with and then be answerable for, and it is also a shorter list than the whole market. Both of those are true at once, and you should weigh it as both.

Frequently asked questions

Does a ten-scheme panel mean Cam only compares those ten?

No. Cam reviews and compares KiwiSaver providers and funds across the wider New Zealand market, including whichever scheme you are in now. The panel is only the set of schemes he can implement a change through once a change is the right answer, and it is a shorter list than the whole market.

Will I pay more if Cam recommends Kernel Wealth, Kōura Wealth or Smart KiwiSaver?

Those three schemes support advised KiwiSaver arrangements under which Solid Steele charges an adviser fee of 0.25% per annum of your balance, in addition to the fund's underlying management fee. Under the other seven arrangements the provider remunerates Solid Steele directly and no additional Solid Steele adviser fee is charged to your account. Cam explains which applies to you before you decide, and the provider-by-provider detail is in the disclosure statement.

Can Cam still recommend that I stay with my current provider?

Yes, and he often does. A recommendation to stay put is a real outcome of a review, including where your current provider is outside the implementation panel. The panel only matters when a change of scheme is the right answer.

Sources and further reading

Every fee and fund-range figure above came from these pages, read on 30 August 2026. Check them yourself, and always read the current Product Disclosure Statement before you decide anything.

• Kernel pricing - Kernel KiwiSaver Plan PDS, 6 August 2025 (Diversified and Equity Funds).
• Kōura funds - Kōura KiwiSaver Scheme PDS, 15 May 2026.
• QuayStreet KiwiSaver FAQs - QuayStreet KiwiSaver Scheme PDS, 7 July 2026.
• SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme overview - SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme PDS, 7 August 2026.
• Smart KiwiSaver funds and fees - issued as the SuperLife KiwiSaver scheme; PDS 19 March 2026.
• Disclose Register - the official register where every scheme's PDS and quarterly Fund Updates are published.
• Solid Steele disclosure statement - how Cam is paid for each scheme on the panel, the conflicts that creates, and how to complain if something goes wrong.