Govt to launch KiwiSaver behaviour trial

Research is being undertaken on how to get people to make an active choice on their KiwiSaver fund. Photo/Steven McNicholl.

Three government agencies are to partner up with KiwiSaver provider KiwiWealth to research ways to encourage savers to actively choose which fund they are in.

Around one in five KiwiSaver members has their money in a default fund - set up to provide an initial parking space for their retirement savings.

Members land in a default fund when they are automatically enrolled through starting a new job and do not pick a fund for themselves.

But many savers end up staying in the funds and experts are concerned it will mean some people do not save enough to pay for a comfortable retirement.

Default funds must be conservatively invested under a government mandate and are likely to have lower returns than balanced or growth fund over longer periods of time.

The Financial Markets Authority, Commission for Financial Capability and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will run a behavioural insights trial with KiwiWealth - a sister company to Kiwibank in the second half of the year.

Paul Gregory, head of investor capability at the Financial Markets Authority, said the trial would assess different approaches to encouraging default KiwiSaver members to make an active fund choice and the findings were likely to be available next year.