The Milford KiwiSaver Plan

The Milford KiwiSaver Plan has two KiwiSaver Funds available to New Zealand investors:

  • The Milford Aggressive KiwiSaver Fund

  • The Milford Balanced KiwiSaver Fund

Milford’s KiwiSaver Funds are both focused on generating long-term growth for their investors and taking appropriate levels of risk to achieve this. Both Funds look to preserve capital in addition to generating growth. Because of this the Funds may hold material levels of cash or low risk investments, which may under perform in a strongly rising market. However, if Milford can successfully avoid large losses in falling markets the Balanced and Aggressive Funds are expected by Milford to perform well over time with less volatile returns.

The Milford KiwiSaver Plan offers the option of investing your contributions in either the Balanced Fund and / or the Aggressive Fund.  100% of your contributions can go into one Fund or the other, or you have the option to split your contributions between the two Funds offered in the Plan.  For more information please see our Milford KiwiSaver Investment Statement.

What is the difference between the Funds?

Differences between the Funds include their investment objectives and mix of investments.

The Aggressive Fund’s objective is to generate positive annual returns of at least 10.0% per annum (before tax and after fees), in good markets and bad. To achieve this the Fund is actively managed and will usually be primarily invested directly (or indirectly through pooled funds) in shares in New Zealand and Australian companies. However, it can hold material levels of cash and bonds when attractive opportunities are scarce and the prospect for share markets is poor.

The Balanced Fund’s objective is to provide consistent positive long-term capital growth from a diversified mix of investments including New Zealand bonds and shares and offshore bonds and shares directly (or indirectly through pooled funds). It will be actively managed in terms of the sector weightings to reflect our investment outlook and aims to generate positive returns in good times and in bad. It can hold material levels of cash or low risk investments when attractive investment opportunities are scarce.

Responsible Investment Statement

Responsible investment, including environmental, social, and governance considerations, is taken into account in the investment policies and procedures of the Plan. 
Milford’s responsible investment policy is to improve New Zealand’s long-term economic well-being by taking strong stands on corporate governance issues. Analysing whether a company adheres to appropriate corporate governance policies is a key part of any research Milford undertakes on the merits of investing into a company.
The corporate governance policies that Milford prefers to follow include:

  • a clear separation between Chairman and Chief Executive
  • a demonstrated commitment to increasing company value for all shareholders
  • a majority of independent directors
  • a board that consists of highly competent and involved directors, with a mix of skills to contribute. A strong emphasis is placed on the commercial skills of directors
  • clearly articulated and consistently followed fair remuneration policies for senior management and the board

Milford’s policy is to vote its proxies on all issues for all the companies it invests in on behalf of its investors.