AMP wins mandate to deliver KiwiSaver for Countdown’s 21,000 workers

AMP New Zealand chief executive Jeff Ruscoe. Photo / Supplied

A major KiwiSaver provider is hoping the win of a mandate to become the preferred provider for supermarket chain Countdown will help give it a boost after losing its default provider status last year.

AMP New Zealand was one of five providers that did not gain reappointment as a default scheme in 2021 which meant around 63,000 members and $680 million were transferred out of its KiwiSaver scheme to other providers.

Jeff Ruscoe, AMP NZ chief executive, said gaining the mandate to provide KiwiSaver for up to 21,000 of Countdown’s workers was a confidence boost for its people internally and created the opportunity to grow its business from here.

“The default loss clearly was a large amount of customers but not a massive amount of revenue. Ultimately this is about how do we have people making an active choice. Having Countdown and Woolworths make that active choice in us to start with is a massive boost - 21,000 potential customers out there that we can talk to gives us the opportunity to try and grow our member base.”

The mandate means Countdown workers already in KiwiSaver will be offered the chance to switch to AMP while those not already in KiwiSaver will be encouraged to sign up.

Ella McInerney, people director at Woolworths NZ, the owner of Countdown said it had not had a preferred KiwiSaver provider up until now.

“We are really interested in helping our team to make well-informed financial decisions and helping them to secure something from a financial point of view going forward. We see that as a responsibility given we are one of New Zealand’s largest employers with more than 21,000 team members across the country.”

AMP beat four other short-listed providers in the tender process.

McInerney said around 12,000 of its workers were already in KiwiSaver and were with a variety of different schemes.

“We are really hoping to grow that number significantly in the coming months as we engage with our team around this offer and support them to help make good financial decisions for them and their families by introducing AMP to all of our team members. We will be working really closely with AMP and our team over the next couple of months.”

The arrangement also includes financial education from AMP.

Ruscoe said even those who did not switch to AMP’s scheme would be able to access financial help from AMP through the arrangement.

McInerney said one of the main reasons some of its workers were signed up to KiwiSaver was due to not understanding the details of how the scheme works - particularly around employer and Government contributions.

“Our priority is building more knowledge within our team about KiwiSaver so they can make an informed decision about what’s right for them. We know that joining KiwiSaver won’t be right for everyone, which is why we’ve made sure to choose a preferred provider that will support our team with their holistic financial wellbeing - regardless of whether they’re signed up for KiwiSaver.”

Ruscoe said the fee AMP was charging for the service was confidential.

“Obviously we will make it worthwhile for Countdown. They are a big employer - they have 21,000 people but that’s not something we are going to share.”

Ruscoe said providing financial education was one way an employer could make themselves more attractive in the tight labour market.

“As we are talking to different employers they are all thinking about how they are looking after their staff and how are they thinking about financial wellbeing for staff. Those conversations are certainly heightened now and we are engaging with a lot of them.”

Ruscoe said it already worked with around 2800 businesses to try and provide those types of services.

“We know that financial issues are one of the key causes of stress for people in general and in particular people in the workplace. So we see the service we offer, not as just KiwiSaver, but that financial wellbeing education and help for people.

“Research says people feel more engaged with their employer if they are looking after a wider range of their needs than just being a worker. We know that’s super effective and super important. We are talking to a lot of employers around the country about the opportunity to have this conversation.”

McInerney said one of the reasons it chose AMP was the provider’s alignment with its 2025 sustainability commitments.

She said AMP had a strong motivation to deliver a more sustainable future.

“That aligns with our values and also our plan for 2025. That was part of the reason for choosing AMP in the tender process.”

AMP is currently the sixth largest KiwiSaver provider. Its annual report shows as of March 31 it had 146,458 members with $5.8 billion invested.