ING tops table of biggest KiwiSaver recruiters

More than $2.6 billion are currently invested in KiwiSaver funds.

A new survey of KiwiSaver numbers has been published showing which managers are doing the best (and worst) at recruiting new members.

The survey, published by finance website goodreturns.co.nz, has compared all KiwiSaver managers between March 31 2008 and March 31, 2009.

Commonwealth Bank-owned ASB bank once more topped the list as the single largest KiwiSaver scheme with almost $450 million in funds under management and over 170,000 members compared to $101 million under management and 72,305 members at the same time last year.

The ASB-owned FirstChoice scheme also totalled 11,213 members and $37.3 million as at the end of March this year.

However, ING was the most successful overall provider with a total 212,732 members and $523 million across the four schemes it manages - the ING default scheme, ANZ, National Bank and SIL.

The survey, which represents about $2.6 billion in funds under management and almost 980,000 KiwiSaver members, showed the average member balance as at March 31 this year was around $2,650.

Huljich, criticised recently for some of its selling techniques, is named as the fastest growing scheme.

The six default managers (ASB, AMP, AXA, ING, Mercer and TOWER) dominate the top spots in funds under management.

A number of so-called 'niche providers' have also performed well in gathering funds under management and members. Noteworthy performers are Gareth Morgan, Fisher Funds and Fidelity Life.

The Huljich KiwiSaver scheme recorded the lowest average member balance of $670 while the tiny $1.55 million Brook Asset Management scheme scored the highest average with over $7,045 per member.

See the table here