A snapshot of ANZ Investments’ KiwiSaver members

To help foster important conversations about KiwiSaver and help members understand the challenges and opportunities they face, ANZ Investments will produce a series of insights.

In the first report, we look at fund selection and the gender retirement savings gap.

“KiwiSaver is crucial to New Zealand, boosting our national savings and helping the economy by providing capital for investments,” says ANZ Investments’ Managing Director, Fiona Mackenzie.

“As our population ages, KiwiSaver will play an increasingly important role in our future prosperity.

“There is an opportunity for providers, the corporate sector, and government to work together to address the challenges over time in a way that earns public support.”

A snapshot of ANZ Investments’ KiwiSaver members

• Around 60 per cent of investors in High Growth Fund are male
• Contribution rates are similar between men and women
• On average, men have almost $6,000 more in their funds than women

Fund choice gender gap:

A gender gap can be seen in the fund selection choices made by ANZ Investments’ KiwiSaver members.

The gap is most pronounced in the High Growth Fund, with around 60 per cent of members being male (61.7% male / 38.3% female).

Fiona Mackenzie, Managing Director for ANZ Investments, said: “With women only making up just over a third of investors in our High Growth fund, this does raise the question: when it comes to investing are too many of us too conservative with our choice of fund?”

Across our other KiwiSaver funds, women investors outnumber men in the more conservative oriented funds, whilst the majority of investors in the Growth fund are men.[1]

Growth oriented funds are more volatile but can be expected to deliver higher returns over the longer term.

“We aren’t saying that every young woman should be in a High Growth fund. But we would encourage everyone – women and men – to stop and check they are in a fund that suits their age, life goals and tolerance for risk.”

KiwiSaver fund choice:

Excluding members in Lifetimes

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KiwiSaver fund choice by age:

66 per cent of Gen Alpha (born from 2013) are in the Growth Fund, and 44 per cent of Gen Z (1997 – 2012).

36 per cent of Millennials are in the Growth Fund and 8 per cent are in the High Growth Fund.

For Gen X, around 20 percent are in each of Growth, Balanced Growth and Balanced.

That contrasts with Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964).  Just over 13 per cent are in the Growth fund, 25 per cent in Balanced and 23 per cent are in the Conservative Fund.

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Contributions:

The percentages of men and women who made an employee or voluntary contribution in the past two months is broadly similar across age groups.

The exceptions are those born before 1946 and Gen X.

71 per cent of women in the Gen X cohort contributed, compared to 67 per cent of men.

36 per cent of female members born before 1946 contributed over the past two months, compared with 32 per cent of men.

“Those are impressive numbers for our older members,” says Mackenzie.

“They have passed the official age of retirement and won’t be eligible for a matching Government contribution. But they are continuing to contribute.”

At the other end of the age range, 22 per cent of female members of Gen Alpha contributed over the past two months, as did 23 per cent of males.

Members contributing in previous two months:

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When contributions are measured by dollar value the gender gap becomes apparent – and it favours men.

Men track ahead of women for contributions by dollar value (including employee, employer and voluntary contributions) across all age ranges except Gen Alpha (those born from 2013 onwards).

Contribution amounts rise as people get older, but the gap between men and women rises too.

“This unfortunately reflects the gender pay gap,” says Mackenzie.

The gender pay gap was 8.2 per cent in the June 2024 quarter (based on median hourly wage and salary earnings[2]).

“We know certain life events, such as getting married, having children, or facing a relationship break-up, can all impact savings and women’s ability contribute to KiwiSaver.”

Annual contributions by generation:

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Member balances:

Looking at our members we can see there is a gap of almost $6,000 between the average balance of ANZ Investments’ male and female KiwiSaver members (male = $37,016, female = $31,030).

This gap can be seen across all age ranges, from Gen Alpha through to those born before 1946.

It begins with just over $100 for Gen Alphas, rising to over $10,000 for both Gen X and Baby Boomers.

For KiwiSaver members aged 64, the average savings gap between men and women is around $17,000 – a gap of 24 per cent.

Average balance by age group:

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[1] These figures exclude members who have chosen our Lifetimes option, in which their savings are moved through our funds based on their age (excluding High Growth Fund). As they near retirement they are invested in lower risk funds.

[2] Stats NZ