How to Read KiwiSaver Returns (NZ, 2026): Why Last Year's Winner Misleads You

Last year's top KiwiSaver fund is rarely next year's. Here is how to read returns properly: after fees, after tax, like-for-like, over 10 years, not 1.

TL;DR: Read KiwiSaver returns after fees and after tax, compare like for like (same fund type, same period), and weight 10-year returns over 1-year. The ASB Growth Fund returned 17.84% over one year but only 8.20% per annum over 10 years ³ — same fund, very different story.

Every June the headlines crown a "top KiwiSaver fund" off one big year, and many members ask whether they should switch into it. KiwiSaver returns read properly start from one idea: a one-year number tells you almost nothing about whether a fund is good, and chasing it usually means buying high after the run has already happened.

This guide sets out four rules for reading KiwiSaver returns, with 2026 New Zealand fund numbers, so you can tell a genuinely good fund from a lucky one.

Why does chasing last year's top fund backfire?

Last year's winner is rarely next year's. Returns are driven by which assets happened to do well in a given 12 months, and that leadership rotates. The fund topping the table in 2025 was usually the one taking the most risk in the asset class that ran hardest, not the one with the best long-run discipline.

The numbers make the point. Over 10 years to 31 December 2025, Morningstar's category averages were aggressive 9.5%, growth 8.2%, balanced 6.9%, moderate 5.0% and conservative 4.2% per annum ². Risk was rewarded over a decade. But over a single year those rankings shuffle constantly, because a year is mostly noise.

And the act of switching has a cost beyond the paperwork. If you sell out of a fund after a strong year to buy this year's leader, you are typically selling something that has already risen and buying something about to revert. By the time a fund tops the one-year table, the gains that put it there are already in the unit price — you do not get them by joining late.

Moving into whichever growth fund just posted a 20%-plus year often means leaving a perfectly good fund of the same type, while locking in a worse tax position for no real benefit.

After fees, after tax: the only number that counts

The number that matters is what actually lands in your account. That means after fees and after tax — not the gross return a marketing page leads with.

KiwiSaver is a PIE (portfolio investment entity), so your returns are taxed at your Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), capped at 28%. For the tax year ending 31 March 2026 the bands are:

(Thresholds rose on 1 April 2025.) ⁷

Two traps to avoid:

• Gross vs net. Many provider tables quote returns before tax, after fees. ASB's published table, for example, is on that basis. ³ Useful for comparing funds against each other, but it is not your in-pocket return.
• Being on the wrong PIR. If your PIR is set too high you overpay tax; too low and you get a bill. It is worth checking before you judge any return figure.

Sorted's Smart Investor states KiwiSaver returns after fees and after tax at 28% PIR — the only figure that reflects what reaches a member's account, shown beside the same fund-type average ⁸.

How do I compare like for like?

Two funds are only comparable if they are the same fund type over the same period. Comparing an aggressive fund's year to a balanced fund's year tells you nothing except that one took more risk.

Period matters just as much as type. The FMA's 2025 report shows non-default balanced funds averaged 5.7% over one year but 5.0% per annum over three years to 31 March 2025, while the six default balanced funds averaged 6.5% (1yr) and 5.2% (3yr) ⁴. Same broad category, different fund set and different window, different answer.

Here is the like-for-like discipline in one example. Generate's funds over 10 years to 31 December 2025 sat just above their category averages — Focused Growth 9.9% vs the 9.5% aggressive average, and Growth 8.9% vs the 8.2% growth average ⁹. A genuinely strong decade-long fund still lands close to its peer group. Anything claiming to be miles ahead of its category average is usually being measured over a flattering short window.

To do this properly across providers, use the KiwiSaver fund comparison approach: match the fund type, fix the period, then compare net returns and fees side by side.

Why do 10-year returns beat 1-year returns?

Because a decade smooths out the noise and reveals the discipline. One year is mostly luck; ten years captures at least one downturn and shows how a fund behaves through it.

Watch what happens to a single fund when you change the window:

Same fund, different story — ASB KiwiSaver Scheme (before tax, after fees)

Source: ASB KiwiSaver Scheme returns table, ~June 2026 ³

The Growth Fund's headline 17.84% year is more than double its long-run rate. If you had judged it on the one-year number you would have badly overestimated what it earns in a normal decade. The Aggressive Fund's eye-catching 20.94% has no 10-year history at all — there is nothing to anchor it to.

A related point on short windows: Kernel's High Growth Fund posted 19.2% per annum over three years to 31 December 2025, ranking first of twelve aggressive funds (returns after fees, before tax) ¹. That is a real achievement, but three strong years is still a short window — it tells you the fund rode the cycle well, not that it will compound at 19% forever. Use the 10-year line as your anchor and treat short windows as supporting detail.

Where do I find reliable return data?

Two sources, both free and independent. Skip the provider marketing pages for comparison.

Morningstar KiwiSaver Survey

Morningstar's quarterly survey reports fund returns over 3 months and 1, 3, 5 and 10 years, and is the benchmark source for like-for-like KiwiSaver comparison. Its database covered close to NZD 145 billion in KiwiSaver assets at the end of the December 2025 quarter ¹. This is what advisers and journalists quote, and it groups funds by category so you can find the right peer average.

Sorted Smart Investor

Run by the Retirement Commission, Smart Investor lets you search any KiwiSaver fund and shows returns after fees and after tax (28% PIR) next to the fund-type average, plus the year-by-year history. That year-by-year view is the most honest thing on the page — it lays bare how wide single-year swings are. One illustrative example, the Simplicity KiwiSaver Balanced Fund profile, ran from +19.40% in 2021 to -3.66% in 2023 after fees and after tax at 28% PIR ⁸ — and that single fund's history is precisely why no one year should decide anything.

For a quick first read on your own fund, the KiwiSaver health check tool pulls the same like-for-like comparison into one screen.

How do fees quietly erode returns?

Fees are the one cost you control, and over a KiwiSaver lifetime they are enormous. Across the sector, members pay about 0.7% of funds under management each year — totalling $868.5 million for the year to 31 March 2025 ⁵. That sat against KiwiSaver FUM of $123.1 billion, of which $6.4 billion was net investment returns ⁶.

The trap is that fees do not show up as a line item shrinking your balance; they are netted out of the return before you ever see it. A fund charging 1.00% versus one charging 0.50% gives up half a percent every year, every year, compounding against you for decades.

Annual fund charges vary more than people expect even within one provider. ANZ's OneAnswer KiwiSaver charges (from 1 August 2024) run from 0.76% on Conservative Balanced up to 1.00% on International Share, with High Growth and Growth at 0.99% — roughly a quarter-point spread inside a single scheme ¹¹. When two funds of the same type post similar net returns, the lower-fee one is the better buy, because fees are certain and future returns are not.

How does an adviser benchmark your fund?

An adviser does four things, in order:

1. Fix the fund type. Identify whether you are actually in conservative, balanced, growth or aggressive — not what the brochure name implies.

2. Pull the right peer average. From the Morningstar category for that type over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years ¹².

3. Compare net, not gross. After fees and after your PIR, using Smart Investor's after-tax figures where available ⁸.

4. Weight the long window. A fund that beats its category average over 10 years through a downturn is doing its job; one that only wins over the last 12 months is not yet proven.

The point of benchmarking is not to find the single highest number. It is to confirm your fund is keeping pace with its peers, at a sensible fee, for a risk level that matches how long until you need the money. A KiwiSaver review runs this end to end and tells you whether to stay put — which is the answer more often than not.

Your return-reading checklist

Before you judge any KiwiSaver return, run these:

• [ ] 01 — Is the figure after fees? (Most provider tables are.)
• [ ] 02 — Is it after tax at your PIR? (Smart Investor shows this; provider pages usually do not.)
• [ ] 03 — Are you comparing the same fund type (e.g. growth to growth)?
• [ ] 04 — Are you comparing the same period, and is that period at least 10 years?
• [ ] 05 — Is your PIR correct (10.5% / 17.5% / 28%)? ⁷
• [ ] 06 — What is the annual fund charge, and how does it compare to peers?
• [ ] 07 — Are you reacting to a single big year? If so, stop and look at the decade.

Frequently asked questions

Is the highest-returning KiwiSaver fund the best one for me? Not necessarily. The highest one-year return usually belongs to the fund taking the most risk in whatever ran hardest that year, and it can fall just as fast. The right fund is the one whose risk level matches your timeframe, that beats its category average over 10 years after fees and tax. Over 10 years to December 2025 the aggressive average was 9.5% p.a. versus 4.2% for conservative — but conservative is the right choice if you need the money soon. ²

Should I switch to last year's top fund? Almost never on the strength of one year. By the time a fund tops the table its gains are already in the unit price, and leadership rotates annually. Compare like for like over 10 years before changing anything, and weigh the tax and timing cost of switching.

Gross or net returns — which should I look at? Net: after fees and after tax at your PIR. Provider tables (like ASB's) are typically before tax, after fees, which is fine for comparing funds to each other but overstates what reaches your account. Sorted's Smart Investor shows after-fees, after-tax figures at 28% PIR. ³⁸

What PIR should my KiwiSaver returns be taxed at? 10.5% if your taxable income is $15,600 or less and total income $53,500 or less; 17.5% if taxable income is $53,500 or less and total income $78,100 or less; otherwise 28%. Being on the wrong PIR distorts your real return — check it before judging any fund. ⁷

Where can I compare KiwiSaver returns for free? The Morningstar KiwiSaver Survey (quarterly, the benchmark source covering ~$145 billion in assets) and Sorted's Smart Investor (after fees and tax, with peer averages). Both are independent of providers. ¹⁸

Do fees really matter if returns are good? Yes. A 0.5% difference in annual fund charges compounds against you for decades and is netted out before you see the return. Within ANZ's OneAnswer scheme alone, charges range from 0.76% to 1.00% ¹¹. Between two same-type funds with similar net returns, the cheaper one wins, because fees are certain and returns are not. ⁵

Book a free KiwiSaver review with a Smiths adviser. Book a review

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.