We have been in contact with 2 potential providers of Kiwisaver, Aonsaver and the Koinonia Fund. This is to give you some information on the costs and service levels provided by these organizations, however it is important to note that I am not recommending them to you as employers and you should not recommend them to your employees. Parishes may or may not have a preferred provider, but cannot attempt to recommend, influence or persuade an employee to use that provider. You can pass on the information summarized below, but if an employee wishes to choose one of these options, they should read the provider’s investment statement first. This is because Kiwisaver schemes are not government guaranteed and in the event of a scheme failing, or not performing as well as other schemes, a member should not argue that they were given poor advice by their employer.
Although these providers offer potential advantages to employees, parishes are free to register them, or any other provider as their preferred provider. The first choice of a provider will always rest with the employee. It is their choice whether to join Kiwisaver and what provider they wish to use. They also have the option of changing their provider should they wish. If they wish to join but do not make a choice and the employer has a preferred provider, that provider will be assigned to the employee. If the employee doesn’t choose, and the employer doesn’t have a preferred provider, a default provider will be assigned by Inland Revenue. There are six default providers:
Although you as employers don’t have to nominate a provider, employees should be advised to investigate options, as service levels, costs and investment performance will vary between providers. Default providers, for example may only offer conservative investment strategies, and may not have ethical investment policies.