How to Compare KiwiSaver Fees Across Providers in NZ (2026)

The same growth fund balance can cost $50 or $720 a year in fees. Here is how to read the five KiwiSaver fees and compare every provider on one number.

Every KiwiSaver provider will quote you a fee, but they rarely quote it the same way. One leads with a headline management fee. Another buries a flat membership fee in the fine print. A third adds a performance fee that only shows up in a quarterly update. To compare them properly you need one number that captures the lot, and you need to be comparing the same kind of fund.

This guide breaks down the five fees inside every KiwiSaver fund, shows you how to get a single combined figure you can compare, and gives real 2026 numbers from real providers.

TL;DR: KiwiSaver funds carry up to five separate fees, quoted in different ways by different providers. Use Sorted's Smart Investor, which combines membership and management fees into one percentage on a $10,000 balance, so every provider is compared the same way. On a $20,000 growth balance, the same risk profile costs anywhere from $50 to $720.40 a year.

What fees are inside a KiwiSaver fund?

There is no single "KiwiSaver fee". The annual cost of a fund is built from up to five separate charges, and providers do not all use the same ones ³:

Most providers now bundle the administration, trustee and expense fees into one "total annual fund charge" expressed as a percentage. That is helpful, but a low headline percentage can sit beside a flat membership fee that has a large effect on a smaller balance.

The scale here is not trivial. Across all schemes, KiwiSaver fees deducted in the year to 30 June 2025 reached $868.5 million, while staying broadly stable at about 0.7% of funds under management ⁵. With $123.1 billion now invested across KiwiSaver — up 10% on the prior year, and with just under half of members in growth funds ⁶ — even a 0.5% difference in fees is a large amount of retirement money over a working life.

Why isn't the headline percentage the whole story?

Because the headline percentage is usually just the management fee — and three things distort it.

1. It ignores flat membership fees. A $30 or $36 annual member fee is rounding error on $200,000. On a first KiwiSaver balance of $3,000, a $36 fee is an extra 1.2% drag on top of the percentage fee.

2. It can exclude performance fees. Some actively managed funds charge a base fee plus a slice of returns above a benchmark. Milford's Active Growth fund, for example, lists a 1.05% management fee plus a 0.15% performance fee when conditions are met (no membership fee) ¹¹ — so the headline 1.05% is not what you actually pay in a strong year.

3. It is not always like-for-like. A 0.50% balanced fund and a 1.05% growth fund are not "cheap vs expensive" — they are different products taking different risk. Comparing their fees directly is meaningless.

Many people choose a fund off a single advertised number and never check it against the alternatives, so the combined figures can look very different side by side.

How do I compare KiwiSaver fees across providers?

Compare on one combined number, inside one fund type. The rest of this guide walks through how to build that number with a free tool, adjust it for your own balance, and then read it like-for-like against every major provider.

How do I use Sorted Smart Investor to get one combined fee?

The Retirement Commission's Smart Investor tool combines the membership fee and the management fee into one fee percentage, based on a $10,000 balance ¹. That converts a flat dollar membership fee into a comparable percentage and stacks it on top of the management fee, so every fund is quoted the same way.

To use it well:

1. Filter to one fund type only (growth, balanced, or conservative) — never mix them.

2. Sort by the combined fee column.

3. Read across to the dollar estimate, not just the percentage.

4. Cross-check the percentage against the provider's own Product Disclosure Statement and latest quarterly fund update, since performance fees and estimates can move.

The $10,000 basis matters: because membership fees are flat, the combined percentage looks worse on small balances and better on large ones. If your balance is much bigger or smaller than $10,000, weight the membership fee accordingly.

Do membership fees really matter?

For small balances, more than people expect. A management fee scales with your money; a flat member fee does not. So the same dollar fee is a tiny drag on a big balance and a heavy one on a small balance.

Worked example: a $36 member fee at two balances

Scenario: Two members are both in a fund with a $36 annual membership fee.

For the new starter — a 16- or 17-year-old who just became eligible, or someone who has only recently opted in — that flat fee is the dominant cost. For a young, low-balance member, a provider with no membership fee (Simplicity, Kernel and Milford all charge none) is often the smarter pick even if its management fee is fractionally higher.

If you are not sure how your member fee is biting, our free KiwiSaver health check tool flags it in a couple of minutes.

How do I compare KiwiSaver fees like-for-like?

Fees only mean something within the same fund type. So before you compare a single number, classify each option as conservative, balanced or growth — then compare inside that bucket. As a reference point, Sorted's reported average management fees are 1.23% for growth, 1.01% for balanced and 0.90% for conservative ².

Here is a like-for-like snapshot of real 2026 growth-style funds, before any membership fee is added:

_Fund fees per each provider's PDS and Sorted's Smart Investor, accessed June 2026 ^{1 11}. *Simplicity lists 0.29% across all of its funds; its growth fund's management fee is 0.24% ¹¹ — we use the growth-specific figure throughout this article for a true like-for-like comparison._

Two warnings on this table. First, "geared" growth (Booster) borrows to invest — it is a higher-risk product, not simply an expensive growth fund, so it is not strictly like-for-like with a plain growth fund. Second, a June 2025 Morningstar-based comparison put the growth category average at about 0.97% ¹¹ — so the cheapest funds here are roughly a quarter of the average, while the dearest are nearly double it. (That market-wide average differs from Sorted's 1.23% growth figure ² because the two use different fund samples and dates; we use Sorted's number for the dollar estimates below for consistency.)

For a full side-by-side across every major provider matched to your risk profile, see our KiwiSaver fund comparison service.

Low-fee leaders vs the average: what should I expect?

The gap is the whole point. On the same $20,000 balance in the same growth profile, Canstar's database shows annual fees running from a minimum of $50 to a maximum of $720.40 ⁴.

Figure: Growth-fund annual fee range on $20,000

_Source: Canstar KiwiSaver database, fees assessed 20/09/2024 and current on the page as at June 2026 ⁴; average derived from Sorted's 1.23% growth average ². The $50–$720.40 range reflects Canstar's most recent published assessment — confirm the latest figure on Canstar's page before relying on it._

That range — over $670 a year — is for the same money taking broadly the same risk. Compounded across a 30- or 40-year working life, the difference is tens of thousands of dollars of your retirement, not the fund manager's. Index-tracking providers (Simplicity, Kernel) sit near the bottom; some actively managed and geared funds sit near the top. Higher fees can be justified by consistent after-fee outperformance — but that is a claim to test against real returns, not to assume.

Your fee-comparison checklist

Run every provider through these seven steps before you switch or stay:

1. Identify the fund type — conservative, balanced or growth. Only compare inside one bucket.

2. Get the combined fee from Sorted's Smart Investor, on a $10,000 basis ¹.

3. Adjust for your balance — weight the membership fee up if your balance is small, down if it is large.

4. Check for a performance fee in the PDS and latest quarterly fund update.

5. Compare the dollar estimate, not just the percentage.

6. Benchmark against the average (growth ~1.23%, balanced ~1.01%, conservative ~0.90%) ².

7. Weigh fees against after-fee returns over five-plus years — cheap is not automatically best, and dear is not automatically worth it.

A note on the bigger picture: fees are only one lever. From 1 July 2025 the government contribution was halved to 25 cents per $1, capped at $260.72, and you still need to contribute $1,042.86 in the year to get the full amount ⁷; members earning over $180,000 no longer qualify, while 16- and 17-year-olds now do ⁸. Minimum contributions also rise from 3% to 3.5% on 1 April 2026 and to 4% from 1 April 2028 ⁹. Saving on fees while missing a free $260 a year is a false economy — get both right.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest way to compare KiwiSaver fees across providers? Use the Retirement Commission's Smart Investor tool. It combines the membership fee and the management fee into a single percentage on a $10,000 balance, so every fund is quoted the same way ¹. Filter to one fund type, sort by the combined fee, and read the dollar estimate rather than just the percentage.

Why do two growth funds have such different fees? Because fund management costs genuinely vary. Index-tracking providers like Simplicity (0.24%) and Kernel (0.25%) keep costs very low, while actively managed or geared funds can charge well over 1% plus performance fees. On a $20,000 growth balance, the market range runs from about $50 to $720.40 a year for broadly the same risk ⁴.

Does a low management fee always mean a cheaper fund? Not for small balances. A flat membership fee — say $36 a year — is barely noticeable on $150,000 but works out to 1.20% on a $3,000 balance. Always add the membership fee back in, which is exactly what Smart Investor's combined number does ¹.

What is a "normal" KiwiSaver fee in 2026? Sorted's reported averages are about 1.23% for growth, 1.01% for balanced and 0.90% for conservative funds ². Across all schemes, total fees ran at roughly 0.7% of funds under management in the year to 30 June 2025 ⁵. Many low-fee index funds sit well under half the growth average.

Do KiwiSaver fees include tax? No — fees and tax are separate. Your KiwiSaver is a PIE, taxed at your Prescribed Investor Rate (10.5%, 17.5% or 28%) ¹². If you never give your provider a PIR, the default 28% applies, which can overtax you ¹⁰. Getting your PIR right matters as much as fees for your net return.

Is it worth switching providers just to save on fees? Often, but not always. A lower fee is a guaranteed saving; higher returns are not guaranteed. Compare after-fee returns over five-plus years, check there is no exit cost, and make sure you stay in the right fund type for your timeframe. A free KiwiSaver review will model the difference for your balance.

General information, not personalised financial advice. Seek advice tailored to your situation before acting. Craig Smith Business Services Ltd (FSP712931), trading as Smiths Financial, holds a Class 2 licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority and is a member of the Financial Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS). Written by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser; reviewed by Craig Smith, Principal Adviser. Last reviewed 16 June 2026.