Why we advise on this KiwiSaver panel (and not the others)

There are roughly thirty KiwiSaver schemes in New Zealand. Our advice is limited to the KiwiSaver schemes we hold agencies with — ANZ, Booster, Fisher Funds, Generate and Milford. Our switch recommendations currently land on four funds across Milford and Booster (the verified 10-year leaders in each risk band). Fisher Funds and Generate funds are shown for comparison and you can choose to switch into them — that's your call, not our recommendation. ANZ is never a switch target. Here is exactly how the panel works, what it means for you, and which schemes we don't advise on.

For context: Smiths holds a Class 2 financial advice provider (FAP) licence from the Financial Markets Authority (FSP712931). FAP licence classes describe who can give advice on the provider's behalf, not which products are covered: Class 1 covers an individual adviser or a single-adviser business, Class 2 covers a business whose financial advisers give regulated financial advice on its behalf (that's us), and Class 3 also permits advice through nominated representatives. The five-agency panel is a choice we've made through our own due diligence. it isn't set by the licence class.

How the panel actually works

The panel has three layers, and we think you should see them plainly:

• Milford and Booster. the recommendation panel. Our switch recommendations currently land on four funds across these two providers, chosen because they hold the verified 10-year leading records in each risk band we advise on. Same Morningstar survey, same 10-year window, same net-of-fees basis, on both sides of every comparison.
• Fisher Funds and Generate. comparison, and your choice. Their funds appear in our comparisons so you can see how the recommendation panel stacks up, and because we hold the agency you can choose to switch into them. That's your call, not our recommendation.
• ANZ. serviced, never recommended. We hold the ANZ agency so we can look after members who are already there. ANZ is never a switch target.

The criteria, applied consistently

1. Track record we can defend

Each scheme on the panel has run long enough that we can analyse it across a full market cycle. That means through the 2020 COVID drawdown and the 2022 inflation correction, not just the 2010s bull run. For the recommendation panel the bar is higher again: a verified 10-year record that leads its risk band.

2. Documented investment process

We need to understand how decisions are made: research depth, investment committee structure, how risk is governed. Marketing language alone isn't enough.

3. Service we can rely on

Each scheme has direct adviser-support arrangements: named contacts, a real escalation process, and predictable turnaround times when our clients need help. Schemes that operate purely direct-to-consumer, with no adviser channel, are not on the panel.

4. Range covering the situations our clients are in

Between the five schemes, the panel covers active management, boutique active, dynamic asset allocation and responsible investing. That is enough range to fit virtually every personal situation we see, without making the panel so wide we can't keep up our due diligence on each one.

5. A commercial relationship we'd accept either way

All panel schemes pay a trail commission in the 0.25%-0.5% p.a. range; up-front commissions apply on Booster, Generate and Fisher Funds switches. We do not weight advice by which scheme pays the higher trail, and the recommendation panel is set by published 10-year records, not by commission. We would still run the same panel if the trails were identical.

What we don't advise on, and why

The schemes below are not on our panel. We do not provide personal financial advice on them. If you're currently a member of one of these schemes, we're happy to discuss whether moving to one of our recommended funds would suit your situation, but we cannot recommend you stay with, or move into, a scheme outside our panel.

• ASB, BNZ, Westpac KiwiSaver schemes. Bank-owned schemes. Many members are in these via default enrolment rather than active choice. Not part of our advised panel. (ANZ is the exception: we hold that agency to service existing members, but we never recommend switching into it.)
• Simplicity, Kernel, Kōura. Direct-to-consumer providers that support members directly rather than through advisers. They're well-run and a sensible fit for many people. We don't advise on them because they aren't built around an adviser channel.
• Mercer, AMP, Aurora. Predominantly employer/institutional schemes. Not part of our advised panel.

"If a scheme outside your panel might suit me better, why don't you advise on it?"

Because we'd rather advise well on five schemes than badly on thirty. Advice quality comes from depth of due diligence, established service relationships, and seeing scheme behaviour across many client situations. We have that on these five. Adding more without that depth would dilute the quality of the advice for you and for every other client.

"Are you saying the schemes you don't advise on are bad?"

No. Some of the schemes outside our panel. Simplicity and Kernel are the obvious examples. are well-run, low-cost, and a sensible fit for many people. We don't think less of them. We just don't advise on them.

"What if I want to stay where I am?"

That's a fine outcome and one we sometimes recommend. Our advice process always considers whether moving makes sense for your specific situation. We don't move every client. We move the clients for whom moving is genuinely the right call.

"How do you make money?"

When you complete a switch into a fund on our panel, the provider pays us commission. Booster, Generate and Fisher Funds pay an up-front commission at the point of switch; Milford pays trail only. All panel schemes pay an annual trail commission in the 0.25%-0.5% range, calculated on your balance. Trail rates differ between schemes. that's standard across all NZ KiwiSaver advisers. We do not charge clients directly, and you get the exact dollars confirmed in writing before any switch is lodged. The full breakdown is in our statutory FAP disclosure at smiths.net.nz/disclosure.

See the schemes we advise on, run our 90-second Health Check, or read the full statement on how our panel is chosen and how we're paid.