The Summer KiwiSaver scheme launched in 2016, and right now total around $140 million in funds under management as at 31 July 2019. This represents a fraction of one percent of the total KiwiSaver investments, and is most likely due to the late start in launching (most providers kicked off in 2007) and lack of marketing. Summer is also promoted by investment advisors Forsyth Barr, albeit not aggressively.
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Your employer may offer another KiwiSaver provider as their preferred provider, but you are free to choose Summer as your provider if you feel it's right for you. ​You don't have to be a client of Forsyth Barr either - Summer is available to everyone.

• In October 2019,  Summer dropped its annual fund charges for the cash (0.9% to 0.5%), fixed interest funds and the Conservative multi asset class fund (all 0.9% to 0.75%). 
  
• No matter what your fund is, as a Summer KiwiSaver scheme member, you'll pay a $36 membership fee for being in the Summer 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 Summer KiwiSaver scheme 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 (other than permitted early withdrawals) to take this money as cash until you turn 65. 

While some KiwiSaver funds have objectives stating that they will make decisions with the aim of beating the markets, Summer is much more cautious. Instead, Summer states in its Product Disclosure Statement:

• We are active managers. We respond to market opportunities rather than tracking an index
  irrespective of changing market circumstances.
• We aim to achieve positive long-term returns by investing (in the specific sector). 
• The returns you receive are dependent on the investment decisions of Forsyth Barr Investment Management Limited, and the performance of the investments.
• We are investment specialists. As part of Forsyth Barr, we bring over 80 years of investment
  experience. 

This means the funds are actively managed - each fund has its own key personnel, tasked with the responsibility of portfolio management and analysis. Summer 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 Summer fund and its investment team follows the agreed-upon target investment mix. For example, the target of listed property investments in the Summer Listed Property is 70%.
• This allows the fund manager to invest up to 70% 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 Summer Listed Property Fund shows investments in Kiwi Property Group, Precinct Properties, Goodman Property, Argosy Property and Stride Property.
• 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 Summer KiwiSaver 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, Summer makes it easy to pick one fund. Helpfully, the names of the funds are free of buzzwords or spin, with New Zealand Cash, New Zealand Fixed Interest, Australian Equities, Listed Property and Growth Selection being examples of plain English titles. 

If you don't select any funds, your contributions will be invested in the Summer Conservative Selection fund. Generally, if you're looking for a safe investment with the lowest risk of seeing your original investment fall, a conservative 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 Conservative Selection fund isn't likely to make you high returns. Share investments are limited to a 30% target, meaning 70% 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. Best of all, because every Summer fund charges the same annual fee, you won't be worse off by way of costs. You can switch to another Summer 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 Summer funds.

​Fund performance details are published on the Summer 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 Summer website.