How KiwiSaver Returns Are Calculated and Reported (NZ 2026)

Your statement return rarely matches the number in the ads — and that is normal. Here is how published KiwiSaver returns are worked out, after fees and tax, and why your personal figure differs.

Most people open their KiwiSaver statement, find a return percentage, and assume it is the number their provider quotes in its ads. It usually is not. The two figures measure different things, over different periods, on different money. Neither is wrong — they just answer different questions.

This guide explains how a fund's published return is calculated, why your own statement shows something else, and which number actually tells you whether your KiwiSaver is doing its job.

TL;DR: A fund's advertised return is a time-weighted figure for one dollar left in the fund for the whole period. Your statement shows a money-weighted return on your actual contributions, which dribble in across the year. KiwiSaver fund updates report returns after fees and after tax at the top 28% PIR ¹², so even the "fund" number is net, not gross.

How is a KiwiSaver fund's published return calculated?

The headline return you see on a provider's website or in a fund update is a time-weighted return. It measures how one dollar would have grown if it had been invested in the fund for the entire period, with nothing added or taken out.

It works by tracking the fund's unit price. Your KiwiSaver money buys units in a pooled fund, and the unit price moves as the underlying investments rise and fall. A time-weighted return chains together the percentage change in that unit price over each sub-period, so the result reflects the fund manager's performance and strips out the effect of money flowing in or out.

That is deliberate. A fund manager does not control when you get paid or when you contribute, so it would be unfair to score them on your cash-flow timing. Time-weighting isolates the bit they do control: how the investments themselves performed.

Every KiwiSaver provider must publish this in a standardised quarterly fund update and an annual update, plus a full annual report within six months of the scheme's financial year-end ⁵. Fund updates appear on the provider's own site and on Sorted's Smart Investor ⁵⁶, and they show the past year's return alongside an average annual return over the past five years ¹.

Time-weighted return vs your personal (money-weighted) return

Your statement does something different. It shows a money-weighted return (sometimes called a personal or internal rate of return) on the actual dollars you put in, when you put them in.

The difference matters because your contributions are not a single lump sum sitting there from day one. They arrive every payday, with employer contributions and the annual government contribution on top. Money you contributed in May has only been invested for a few weeks by 31 March; money from two years ago has had the full ride.

A simple way to hold the two apart:

Both are legitimate. If you want to judge the fund, use the time-weighted figure. If you want to know what happened to your money, the money-weighted figure on your statement is the honest answer.

Why your statement return differs from the advertised number

The gap is almost always about timing of contributions, not a fund underperforming its own advertised number.

Picture a fund that returns 10% over a year on a time-weighted basis, but most of the gain lands in the second half. Someone with a large balance from the start captures most of that 10%. Someone who started the year near zero and contributed steadily had far less money invested while the market rose, so their personal money-weighted return comes out lower — even though they were in the exact same fund earning the exact same unit-price movements.

Figure: why the fund's advertised return differs from your statement

The illustration below shows the effect of contributing through the year rather than investing a lump sum on day one.

_Illustrative example only, to show the mechanism. It is not a projection of any fund and assumes no fees or tax in the simplified figures. Actual results depend on your fund, your contribution pattern and market movements over the period._

This is why a brand-new member, or anyone who has just had a strong contribution year, often sees a statement return well below the fund's advertised figure in a rising market — and, helpfully, often above it in a falling market, because less of their money was exposed to the drop. It cuts both ways.

A second, smaller cause is timing of the reporting period. The ads usually quote a return to the most recent quarter end; your statement runs to the scheme's annual date. Different start and end points capture different slices of the market.

Are reported returns after fees and after tax?

Mostly yes, and this trips a lot of people up. KiwiSaver fund updates report each fund's return after fees have been deducted and after tax at the highest prescribed investor rate (PIR) of 28% ¹². The PIR is the tax rate on your KiwiSaver earnings, and 28% is the maximum for an individual — it is also the rate applied by default if you never tell your provider your PIR ².

The standardised fund update actually shows a few different return lines, which is worth knowing so you compare the right ones:

Because the after-tax line uses the top 28% rate, your own after-tax return can be slightly better than the published figure if your correct PIR is lower — 10.5% or 17.5% ³. The PIR thresholds changed on 1 April 2025: the 10.5% rate applies to taxable income of $15,600 or less, 17.5% up to $53,500, and 28% above that, with combined taxable-and-PIE-income tests layered on top ³. Getting your PIR right is one of the few levers that quietly improves your net return, so it is worth checking.

For a fuller breakdown of the net-of-fees-and-tax picture, see our guide on KiwiSaver returns after fees and tax.

How contributions and timing skew your personal return

Three features of KiwiSaver pull your personal return away from the fund's advertised number:

1. Regular contributions. Money arriving each payday spends less time invested than a lump sum would, so in a rising market your average dollar earns less than the full-period figure suggests.

2. The annual government contribution. Paid as a lump near the start of August each year for the prior contribution year, it lands at one point in time and is then exposed to whatever the market does afterwards ⁷.

3. Fees shown in dollars. Since 1 April 2018, providers must show the total annual fees you paid in dollar terms on your statement, not just a percentage ⁹. Seeing the actual dollars taken out, against the contributions paid in, is part of why your personal outcome can look different from a clean published percentage.

None of this means your fund is letting you down. It means your statement is measuring your real, messy, drip-fed reality — which is exactly what it should do.

How to compare returns fairly across funds

If your aim is to judge whether your fund is any good, comparing your statement return to a friend's statement return is close to meaningless — your contribution timing, balances and PIRs all differ. Compare the funds, not the people, and do it like-for-like:

• Use the time-weighted figures from fund updates, not personal statement returns.
• Match the fund type. A growth fund and a conservative fund are not competitors; they take different risk. Compare growth with growth, balanced with balanced.
• Match the period. Use the same five-year (or other) window for every fund.
• Use the same fee and tax basis. The standardised fund-update returns are already after fees and after 28% tax, so they line up.

Sorted's Smart Investor, run by Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission, is built for exactly this. It lets you open up your fund and stack it against others using the standardised fund-update figures, so the comparison is genuinely like-for-like ⁶. Named providers you can line up there include ANZ, ASB, Booster, Fisher Funds, Generate, Kernel, Milford and Simplicity.

For the wider context on what a "good" return even looks like across risk levels, our KiwiSaver returns explained guide is the place to start.

Where the official return figures come from

The numbers are not marketing inventions — they sit inside a regulated disclosure regime. Three sources carry weight:

• Fund updates (quarterly) and annual updates, in the FMA-mandated standard format, with returns after fees and after 28% tax ¹⁵.
• Sorted's Smart Investor, which republishes those standardised figures so funds can be compared on one basis ⁶.
• The scheme's annual report, published within six months of the financial year-end ⁵.

For projections — the "what might my balance be at 65" figures on your annual statement — the FMA prescribes a standard set of after-fees-and-tax return assumptions so every provider projects on the same footing: Defensive 1.5%, Conservative 2.5%, Balanced 3.5%, Growth 4.5% and Aggressive 5.5% per year ⁴. These are illustrative assumptions, not predictions, and are deliberately conservative.

If you want to see your own fund's unit price mechanics, our KiwiSaver unit pricing explained guide shows how the daily price you buy and sell at is built.

What return number actually matters to you

It depends on the question.

If you are asking "is my fund any good?", the published time-weighted return — same type, same period, after fees and tax — is the number to use. If you are asking "how did my actual money do?", the money-weighted return on your statement is the honest answer, contribution timing and all.

The trap is comparing the wrong two numbers: your money-weighted statement figure against a fund's time-weighted advertisement, and concluding your fund is underperforming when it is simply measuring something else. Returns matter, but for most people they sit alongside fees, the right risk level for their timeframe, the right PIR, and contributing enough to capture the full government contribution and employer match. The published percentage is only one piece.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my KiwiSaver statement return lower than the advertised return? Usually because of contribution timing. The advertised figure is time-weighted — it assumes one dollar invested for the whole period. Your statement is money-weighted, based on contributions that arrive every payday. In a rising market your average dollar was invested for less time, so your personal return comes out lower even though you were in the same fund. In a falling market the effect can reverse.

Are KiwiSaver returns shown after fees and tax? Yes. Fund updates report returns after fees are deducted and after tax at the highest 28% PIR ¹². They also show a separate after-fees-before-tax line and an untaxed market index return for comparison. If your correct PIR is below 28%, your actual after-tax return can be a little better than the published figure ³.

What is the difference between time-weighted and money-weighted returns? Time-weighted measures how the fund performed, ignoring when money flowed in or out — it is fair to the fund manager and good for comparing funds. Money-weighted measures how your actual contributions performed, including their timing — it is the real outcome for your money and is what your statement shows.

Which KiwiSaver return number should I compare across providers? The time-weighted return from each fund's standardised fund update, matched for fund type, period, and fee-and-tax basis ¹⁶. Comparing your statement return to someone else's is not like-for-like, because your contribution patterns and balances differ. Sorted's Smart Investor lines funds up on a consistent basis ⁶.

Where do the official KiwiSaver return figures come from? From regulated disclosures: quarterly and annual fund updates in the FMA-mandated format, the scheme's annual report (within six months of year-end), and Sorted's Smart Investor, which republishes the standardised figures ⁵⁶. Statement projections use the FMA's prescribed after-fees-and-tax return assumptions ⁴.

Does getting my PIR right change my reported return? The fund update is always shown at the top 28% PIR, so it does not change. But your own after-tax return improves if your correct PIR is lower — 10.5% or 17.5% depending on your income, under the thresholds in force from 1 April 2025 ³. If you have never supplied a PIR, the default 28% applies, which may overtax you ².

General information, not personalised financial advice. It does not take into account your particular financial situation, goals or needs. Before acting, consider whether it is right for you and seek advice tailored to your circumstances. Returns are not guaranteed; the value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. KiwiSaver is a long-term savings scheme; government contributions, contribution rates, withdrawal rules and tax (PIR) settings are set by the Government and can change — figures are correct as at 23 May 2025, so check current rules at ird.govt.nz, kiwisaver.govt.nz and sorted.org.nz. Craig Smith Business Services Ltd (FSP712931), trading as Smiths Financial, holds a Class 2 licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority to provide financial advice on personal risk insurance, health insurance, general insurance, KiwiSaver and managed funds, 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 23 May 2025.