AMP was one of the first KiwiSaver schemes to market back in 2007, and has over 230,000 members with more than $5 billion invested, or just over 10% of all KiwiSaver investments. Yet, bigger isn't always best, and AMP has been criticised repeatedly for over-charging and under-performing when compared to other KiwiSaver schemes. 
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Your employer may offer another KiwiSaver provider as their preferred provider, but you are free to choose AMP KiwiSaver as your provider if you feel it's right for you.

In AMP KiwiSaver by default?

• If you join the AMP KiwiSaver Scheme through a preferred provider arrangement then it is likely you will be defaulted into Lifesteps. This is because most employers have chosen Lifesteps as the "default" option and not the Default fund. 
  
• If you did not make a specific choice when signing up to KiwiSaver, you could be enrolled in the AMP KiwiSaver Default fund. Currently, this fund is larger than any other AMP KiwiSaver fund (around $1.4 billion), and has one of lowest fees but also has a conservative investment approach. Historically, it has reported the third-lowest returns.

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No matter what your fund is, as an AMP KiwiSaver member, you'll pay a streamlined fee:

• Between 0.41% and 1.42% of your KiwiSaver balance per year, depending on your fund, which represents the management and administration fees.
• $23.40 per year ($1.95 per month), which is the membership fee for being in the AMP KiwiSaver Scheme.

If you want to contribute to your fund at a level above your fixed salary contribution, you can do this via the online banking or manually by contacting the client services team. If you stop contributing, you will still pay both fees. 

Many of the AMP KiwiSaver funds invest in shares, and many will pay dividends. These cash payments represent the profits from companies returning it to the shareholders, i.e. you. When a company declares a dividend, your fund will receive money, and it is re-invested into more shares, growing the value of your fund. Despite being a cash payment, and as is the case with ALL KiwiSaver funds, there is no option to take this money as cash until you turn 65. 

While some KiwiSaver funds have specific objectives stating that they will make decisions with the aim of beating certain market indices by a particular percentage, AMP doesn't make such claims. Instead, they state that a fund's objective will be to achieve "medium", "modest" or "high" returns. The fund updates explain the performance in detail.

All of the funds This means the funds are actively managed - each fund has its own key personnel, tasked with the responsibility of portfolio management and analysis. AMP will then select specific investments it sees as undervalued, anticipating that in time, the value of the investment will grow and ultimately make a profit for the fund.

How does this work in practice?

• Each AMP fund and its investment team follows the agreed-upon target investment mix. For example, the target of listed property investments in the AMP Aggressive Fund is 7%.
• This allows the fund manager to invest up to 7% of the fund in assets that fall within the category of 'listed property'.
• The manager can use all of the allocation on one listed property company, or diversify into many investments (which is what happens in practice). As listed property is not without its risks, investment managers will diversify and purchase many different listed property companies.
• A recent report into the holdings of the AMP Aggressive Fund shows an investment in Kiwi Property Group, and there may be others beyond that.
• As market conditions change, the investment manager buys and sells individual investments as they see fit.
• Remember, past fund performance is no guarantee of future results; what you ultimately invest in will be determined by your level of comfort with a fund.

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Signing up to the AMP scheme is easy, and you can create your own portfolio of investments by choosing any combination of the funds. This means you can allocate 20% of your money to one fund, 40% to another, and 10% to another two, giving you diversity. But if this doesn't interest you, you can select one of the 25+ funds AMP offers. 

If you don't select any fund or funds, your contributions will be invested in AMP Lifesteps fund that corresponds to your age. Generally, if you're looking for a safe investment with the lowest risk of seeing your original investment fall, a conservative or default fund could be a suitable option. But many investment professionals would suggest being in a conservative fund for the long term. If you're looking for a higher return and are prepared to have your money in higher-risk investments which could fall in value, balanced and growth funds operate in this manner. 

Generally, if you want to grow your KiwiSaver fund for the long-term, and unless you're risk-averse, the AMP Default fund isn't likely to make you high returns. Share investments are limited to a 20% target, meaning 80% of the money sits in bank accounts, low-interest bonds and other fixed-interest. 

If you are in this fund and would prefer a more aggressive fund, you have the option to switch free of charge, either to another AMP KiwiSaver fund, or any other KiwiSaver fund operated by another scheme.

If you're not sure of what to invest in and want to have a range of options to pick from, look at MoneyHub's KiwiSaver fund comparison tool which includes all AMP funds.

​Fund performance details are published on the AMP website every three months. Unit prices, which track the performance, are updated daily. And, as a member, you can also check a fund balance 24/7 by logging in to the AMP website or downloading the MyAMP mobile app.
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AMP frequently appears in the media for all the wrong reasons. Many journalists and financial commentators see it as an under-performing scheme. No other scheme offers more funds, but it's almost certain that better deals are found elsewhere in KiwiSaver.