Welcome changes to KiwiSaver

Not every KiwiSaver provider has an appropriate slogan but the Huljich catchphrase 'Taking KiwiSaver Seriously' is starting to look apt.

After this week's announcement from the Government Actuary (GA), the tagline may even have to be upgraded to 'Taking KiwiSaver Very Seriously'.

The conditions imposed on Huljich are onerous enough and represent the first time the GA has used its powers to publicly punish a KiwiSaver provider.

In a statement, the new, but maybe interim, head of Huljich, Don Brash, "welcomed" the GA's decision.

"We have every intention of being a leader in the KiwiSaver industry in terms of transparency," Brash says in the release.

We'll see.

But the GA was also asking the Huljich trustee, Trustee Executors, to have a good look at itself because it had neglected some of its oversight duties.

Like Brash, Trustee Executors "welcomed the directions provided by the Government Actuary", calling for more stringent rules for every KiwiSaver manager.

It is possible these new Huljich conditions could be extended to all KiwiSaver providers after a special taskforce investigating the matter reports back to Commerce Minister Simon Power in a couple of weeks.

For some providers the game is getting far too serious. As I hinted in a previous blog, Asteron is very close to pulling the plug on its KiwiSaver scheme, which carries the slogan 'Financial confidence in retirement'. There are enough clues in the Asteron KiwiSaver scheme's latest prospectus to support this prediction.

Expect any day now to see Asteron has signed up to encourage its members to shift to a new provider - similar to Gareth Morgan's deal with the now defunct IRIS scheme.

Here are my wild guesses for which provider will pick up the Asteron KiwiSaver members: Grosvenor; AonSaver; Mercer, or; if you fancy longshots, Huljich.