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SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme

​Our guide to the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme reviews the fund choices, fees and options available to KiwiSaver members.
​Updated 1 April 2026
Summary of the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme:
  • Funds: SBS Wealth KiwiSaver offers four core KiwiSaver funds, one is focused on cash and cash equivalents (Cash Fund), one on income-producing assets (Income Fund), and the final two on growth assets (Focused Growth Fund and High Growth Fund). The scheme also offers an age-driven option which delivers the funds via 'life stages' (explained in further detail below). This means that as you get older, your KiwiSaver investment profile changes to protect the savings you have amassed. SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme's Lifestages Auto automatically allocates increasing proportions of money into the Cash Fund and Income Fund as you get older, and reduces it from the Focused Growth and High Growth Funds.
  • Management and Fees: SBS Wealth takes a hands-on approach to managing the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme. The Scheme is actively and responsibly managed to create value for investors over the long term through a blend of concentrated direct shares and trusted active fund manager(s). The management fee is in line with other active KiwiSaver managers. 
  • Underlying Investments: Investments in the SBS Wealth Cash Fund are 100% invested in cash and cash equivalents while investments in the Income Fund are predominantly New Zealand and global bonds, term deposits with some exposure to cash. The majority of the term deposit investments are with SBS Bank. The bonds are with well recognised fund managers, like Harbour Asset Management, Dimensional Fund Advisers and Blackrock. The SBS Wealth High Growth Fund allocates its money in sharemarkets around the world, with about ¾ invested globally and ¼ domestically. The sharemarket investments are a blend of a concentration of direct NZ, Australian and global shares, plus investments via underlying fund managers, including Dimensional Fund Advisers, Schroder,  iShares thematic ETFs and Kernel. This gives investors exposure to global markets and key thematics, like technology, innovative healthcare, and decarbonisation. The Focused Growth Fund invests in a concentrated selection of international equities and global themes (up to 25 securities at any time). Given the concentrated nature of the Focused Growth Fund, there is a 25% maximum allocation allowed to this fund (known as a “guardrail”).
  • The Importance of the High Growth Fund: The scheme's long-term growth, and thus returns, are primarily driven by the High Growth Fund. This Fund makes up the majority allocation of the Lifestages Auto under 50 year old with 15% also being allocated to the Focused Growth Fund The majority of the 50-59 year olds allocation made up of the High Growth Fund. If it beats other KiwiSaver growth-focused funds, the entire scheme is lifted, but if its returns are below average, the scheme is worse off. The Income Fund, by comparison, only invests in fixed interest bearing securities paying the same or similar returns that other KiwiSaver income-orientated funds invest in. The Cash Fund only invests in cash and cash equivalents.
  • Fees: SBS Wealth KiwiSaver does not charge an annual membership fee for being part of the scheme. However, the funds charge between 0.45% and 1.20% p.a. in management and administration fees. There are no joining fees, exit fees if you transfer your money to another Scheme, or switch funds transferring within the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme. 
  • No Performance Fees: There are no performance fees charged.
  • ​Ownership: The SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme is issued and managed by SBS Wealth Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of SBS Bank Group (the Invercargill-based New Zealand owned bank). 

Our Review
In this guide, we outline what the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme is, what funds it offers to KiwiSaver members, and how they're different to other funds, as well as looking at alternatives and the level of fees involved.
 
Please note: MoneyHub is not a Financial Adviser, and this guide has been published to explain the investment fundamentals and outline the pros and cons of SBS Wealth as a KiwiSaver investment option.
​
Our review covers:
Understand this first - what is a 'lifestage' fund?
  • Rather than having to choose between a conservative, balanced, moderate, growth or aggressive fund (the five main categories of funds on the market), lifestage funds give you an asset allocation that is age specific and self-adjusting.
  • Modern investment theory has it that the younger you are, the greater volatility you can afford to tolerate. This means that growth funds are favoured for younger savers, because, over time, the returns will beat any other investment type. Many would argue that is particularly the case with KiwiSaver because it is a retirement saving vehicle, and you could be in it for 30 to 40 years if you enrol when you first join the workforce or graduate.
  • While the composition of lifestage funds varies from provider to provider (and from fund to fund), in general terms the younger you are, the greater exposure you'll most likely have to equities (shares of companies listed on the stock exchange).
  • Lifestage funds are offered by Generate, SuperLife, Fisher Funds and the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme. Stuff.co.nz has an excellent historical article which profiles lifestage funds among KiwiSaver providers.
  • Source: Amanda Morrall, Interest.co.nz
Read this First: Fees, Performance and Understanding What's Best For Your Situation
  • A lot of media attention focuses on KiwiSaver fees, but this is only one thing to consider when picking the most suitable provider and fund for your retirement needs.
  • We believe that being comfortable with what you're investing in is the most important aspect of saving for your retirement, not the fee you'll pay.
  • While we don't focus on the latest returns, we encourage readers to make their own comparisons using our KiwiSaver fund comparison tool.
  • Ultimately, deciding upon whether the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme is right for you will most likely come down to your interpretation of the fund performances in the medium term, their investment strategy and their fees. ​

The Specs of the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme Funds - Fees, Risks and Explaining Where Your Money is Invested

  • Four funds drive the entire scheme, the Cash Fund, the Income Fund, the High Growth Fund and the Focused Growth Fund.
  • The SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme gives you the option to invest via its age-based funds automatically using its Lifestages Auto funds. The age buckets are 0-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64 and 65+. The performance of these funds is driven mostly by the performance of the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme High Growth Fund and Focused Growth Fund and, to a lesser extent, the Income and Cash Funds. We review these funds in more detail below.
  • Up-to-date fund performance data is available on the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme website.
  • Each of the four core funds has a unique risk factor (1 = lowest, 7 = highest), which is driven by its distinct investments each fund makes.
  • Fees, returns, risks 
​1: SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme Cash Fund
The Fund invests (either directly or through its underlying managers), predominantly in high quality, short-term NZ dollardenominated assets such as cash deposits, money market instruments, and fixed interest with a maturity of up to one year
  • Annual fee: 0.45%
  • Risk factor: 1
  • Investment Composition: Cash and cash equivalents (100%)
​2: SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme Income Fund
This fund invests solely in income assets of a short term nature such as bank deposits, floating rate notes and money market securities with New Zealand-registered and overseas banks.
  • Annual fee: 0.90%
  • Risk factor: 3
  • Investment Composition: Cash and cash equivalents (1%–20%), New Zealand fixed interest (20%-50%) and International fixed interest (30%–70%) hedged to NZD

Our view: The Income Fund is the most conservative SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme fund, intending to provide stable returns over the short term, investing 100% of the fund into low-risk assets such as government and corporate bonds, and local term deposits. The Income Fund historically offers the lowest fees and reports the lowest historical return within the scheme.
3: SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme High Growth Fund
​This fund invests predominantly in growth assets, such as New Zealand and international shares. A small amount of cash is held for liquidity management. This fund is most suitable for long-term investors given SBS Wealth KiwiSaver's suggestion of a minimum 7-year investment timeframe. 
  • Annual fee: 1.20%
  • Risk factor: 5
  • Investment Composition: Cash and cash equivalents (1%–10%), Australasian equities (10%–40%) and International equities (50%–90%) 50% hedged to NZD

Our view: The High Growth fund is the flagship long-term SBS Wealth KiwiSaver option, and drives the performance of the auto option funds (see below). As a standalone fund, it charges investors 1.20% p.a, putting the fees up there with other actively managed KiwiSaver schemes like Generate, Milford and Fisher Funds.
​
4: SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme High Growth Fund
​This fund invests in a concentrated selection of growth assets, such as international equities. A small amount of cash is held for liquidity management. This fund is most suitable for long-term investors given SBS Wealth KiwiSaver's suggestion of a minimum 10-year investment timeframe. 
  • Annual fee: 1.20%
  • Risk factor: 6
  • Investment Composition: Cash and cash equivalents (1%–10%) and International equities (90%–99%) 50% hedged to NZD
Funds 3-7: The Lifestages Auto Option
  • As outlined in the table below, the life cycle investment option offers a combination of the Cash Fund, Income Fund, High Growth Fund and the Focused Growth.
  • The exact ratio varies based on your age. The intention is to provide investors with an age-appropriate mix of the four core funds SBS Wealth KiwiSaver funds.
  • The life cycle age-based stages and their respective investment composition, risk indicator and fees are presented in the table below.
Age Range
Fund Name
SBS Wealth
Cash
Fund %
SBS Wealth Income
Fund %
SBS Wealth
High Growth
Fund %
SBS Wealth
Focused Growth
Fund %
Total annual
fund charges
(estimated)
Risk Indicator
​(1 to 7)
0-49
Lifestages Auto 0 - 49
0%
0%
​85%
15%
1.20%
5
50-54
Lifestages Auto 50 - 54
0%
20%
75%
5%
1.14%
4
55-59
Lifestages Auto 55 - 59
0%
40%
​60%
0%
1.08%
4
60-64
Lifestages Auto 60 - 64
10%
50%
​40%
0%
0.97%
4
65+
Lifestages Auto 65+
15%
55%
30%
0%
0.92%
3
Information extracted from the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme Product Disclosure Statement (published 27 November 2025)
SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme Lifestages Auto Option Must-Know Facts
  • Just because you're in a SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme fund does not mean you have to invest in the automatic life cycle investment funds.
  • The lower the percentage of the High Growth Fund allocation, the lower the annual fee, and vice versa.

Who is the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme Suited To?

Ultimately, our view is that the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme offers a middle-of-the-road KiwiSaver scheme, but better options can be found elsewhere.

SBS Wealth KiwiSaver has a history of high-fees producing average returns. While it has committed to introducing lower-fee funds, we're most uncomfortable with the Income Fund, SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme's low-risk conservative fund, which commands ~0.90% p.a. in fees. 

While lifestage funds are useful, we take the view that the fund offering could be better. Specifically, the historical returns struggle when compared to the bulk of similarly structured KiwiSaver funds.

In our view, it's an average offering, and better options are out there with specialist lifestage providers such as Generate, SuperLife and Fisher Funds.
​
Pros
  • Nine funds that offer a sliding scale of risk and return based on age, all that are clearly defined in investor statements.
  • Investments are globally diversified and include cash deposits, NZ government bonds and corporate bonds, global sovereign bonds and corporate bonds, New Zealand and Australian shares and global equities.
  • Key focus on global investments, moreso than other KiwiSaver schemes. This means a greater emphasis on technology, financial services, and consumer discretionary companies.
  • Up to date fund performance and balances are available 24/7 via the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme website.

Cons
Be aware:
  • As with any investment, markets go up and down. The Dotcom bubble in the early 2000s sank global sharemarkets, as did the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. While many global sharemarkets are now at record highs, this is no guarantee of future earnings.
  • The SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme's Income Fund currently makes up around 40% of the scheme's total balances, which suggests that the scheme's members are risk-averse, relatively older and not looking for growth-orientated funds, and/or not informed or actively encouraged by SBS Wealth to switch into better-performing funds. This means unaware savings are likely to lose out on potential returns by staying with the Income Fund.

SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme - Must-Know Facts

SBS Wealth may be an SBS Bank-product, but it's tiny in comparison to ASB, ANZ and AMP, and most other bank KiwiSaver schemes

Most SBS Wealth funds only launched in 2015, but since then the scheme has managed to amass around $800 million of investments (as at 31 March 2026). We believe most members have come from direct marketing to SBS customers, as the marketing drive and general promotion to get new members is relatively quiet. ​SBS Wealth KiwiSaver has less than 1% of the total KiwiSaver funds under management, a fraction of ANZ's ~25%, as a point of comparison.

No matter what your employer's default KiwiSaver provider or fund is, you are entitled to select SBS Wealth as your KiwiSaver scheme

Your employer may offer another default KiwiSaver provider, but you are free to choose SBS Wealth as your provider if you feel it's right for you. You don't have to go into an aged-base auto option fund either. 

Signing up to the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver Scheme is easy, but you’ll need to decide your fund first. There are five options, Cash, Income, High Growth, Focused Growth or a combination of all four, or the Lifestages Auto option.

Generally, if you're looking for a safe investment with the lowest risk of seeing your original investment fall, an income fund could be a suitable option. But many investment professionals would suggest being in a growth fund for the long term. If you're looking for a higher return and are prepared to have your money in higher risk investments, the High Growth fund (or an Auto Option fund with a decent portion allocated to that fund), could both be suitable options. 

There is no minimum investment, and it's easy to take savings suspension

If you stop contributing for any reason, these fees will still be charged the management fee on your balance. 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.

The performance data is easy to follow, and updated regularly

​Fund performance details are published on the SBS Wealth website monthly. As a member, you can also check a fund balance 24/7 by logging in to the website.

Our Conclusion​

  • SBS Wealth charges you a premium for its services - the fees you will pay each year are double or triple what low-cost providers like ​Superlife and Simplicity charge, despite reporting consistently similar or lower returns.
  • With seven of the nine funds, investors can get exposure to the New Zealand sharemarket, Australian sharemarket, emerging markets, local and global bonds, global property as well as New Zealand cash deposits.
  • With every fund offered, the higher the weighting of growth assets vs income assets, the higher the annual management fee. This is expected to be offset by the long-term performance of the fund.
  • Ultimately, our view is that the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver scheme (and its Lifestages funds) are adequate, but significantly better options can be found elsewhere despite the lower fees coming into effect.
  • ​It is likely that, regardless of your KiwiSaver balance, funds in other KiwiSaver schemes may well charge lower management fees and show a history of better returns. 
Do you have experience with the SBS Wealth KiwiSaver scheme that you would like to share with our readers? Email our research team who would be delighted to hear from you.