Milford overtakes Westpac in KiwiSaver asset rankings as ANZ loses members

Milford moved ahead of Westpac to become New Zealand’s fourth-largest KiwiSaver provider by assets in the year to March 2026, according to provider figures reported by RNZ on 13 October. Milford also recorded the largest increase in members, while ANZ and Westpac lost members. The figures show how the provider rankings changed through March, but do not measure transfers since then.

ANZ remained the largest provider by assets, followed by ASB and Fisher Funds. Generate moved ahead of AMP into sixth place. Across KiwiSaver, the figures reported by RNZ put invested assets at $138.7 billion and membership at 3,440,466 at the end of March.

Which KiwiSaver providers gained assets and members?

Milford added $3.4 billion in assets under management over the year, the largest absolute increase among providers, while ASB added $2.1 billion. RNZ reported that Milford’s assets had grown by more than $10 billion over five years. Those dollar increases are a different measure from percentage growth, which can be much larger at smaller providers.

On a percentage basis, Sharesies’ assets grew 162% and Kernel’s grew 128% in the year to March, according to RNZ’s account of the provider data. The reported percentages describe growth in assets held by those schemes; they do not establish how much of that growth came from incoming members, contributions or investment returns.

Where did membership fall?

ANZ lost 16,490 members during the year to March, and Westpac lost 8,552, RNZ reported. Pie’s membership fell 10% in percentage terms. Those movements sit alongside ANZ’s position as the largest provider by assets and Westpac’s fall to fifth in the asset rankings; membership and assets are separate measures.

MJW principal Ben Trollip told RNZ that brand awareness can drive provider growth. He cited long-term performance at Milford and Generate, and customer control and flexibility at Sharesies and Kernel. Trollip also said advertising appeared more prevalent and that reports of high transfers suggested consumers were becoming more engaged. These are his explanations of the market, not evidence of why any particular member moved.

Kernel founder Dean Anderson told RNZ he saw growth at some schemes as members moving from established providers to firms he said were investing and innovating around transparency. Anderson said the March cutoff could understate subsequent movement and described the trend as continuing. His assessment does not establish the number of transfers after March.

What the regulator’s figures show

The Financial Markets Authority’s annual report, also covering the year to 31 March 2026, put KiwiSaver funds under management at $138.8 billion and the average member balance at $40,340, up 11% over the year. Its market total is slightly different from the $138.7 billion in the provider figures reported by RNZ. Both figures describe the market at the March cutoff.

The regulator reported 3.44 million members and 112,471 new members joining during the year. Contributions exceeded withdrawals by $6.4 billion. It said both fund switching and transfers between schemes rose, describing a competitive market in which members were taking a more active role in their investments. Its summary does not assign each transfer to a particular provider.

The FMA said total fees deducted reached $978 million, up 12.6%, while fees had remained around 0.7% of funds under management over the previous three years. RNZ’s account of the MJW figures put the average fee paid by a member during the year at $287. Those are different measures: one is the market’s total fees, another a share of assets, and the third an average amount per member.

Balances differed sharply between providers. RNZ reported average balances ranging from $27,200 at BCF to $184,600 at KiwiWRAP, which had about 1,600 members, against a national average of about $40,000. An average provider balance describes the members in that scheme; it is not a ranking of what an individual saver would earn by joining it.

Why the March cutoff matters

The FMA said more members were choosing growth funds, which held $68 billion by 31 March. MJW’s April investment survey, meanwhile, described broadly negative first-quarter 2026 market returns for KiwiSaver funds. It put the average growth fund’s return over the ten years to March at 7.9% a year, approximately twice the average conservative fund return over that period. Those historical returns do not establish future performance.

The newly reported provider rankings are a snapshot of the year ending in March, rather than a current tally of every scheme’s membership or assets. The regulator’s figures support the wider finding that switching and transfers increased during that year. Neither the March rankings nor the attributed comments from industry figures establish how many members have changed providers since March or what motivated each move.