Kiwi’s get on board with ASB KiwiSaver

Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 9:52 am
Press Release: ASB Bank

Media Release
7 May 2008

Kiwi’s get on board with ASB KiwiSaver

A focus on KiwiSaver in March has seen a huge inflow into the ASB Group Investments fund, with over 100,000 savers now having opened an ASB KiwiSaver account.

ASB’s information suggests membership numbers across all KiwiSaver funds may now stand at almost 600,000 New Zealanders now saving for their retirement through this programme.

Greg McAllister, Head of Wholesale Distribution at ASB Group Investments says, “The response from New Zealanders has far exceeded our expectations, and is a very positive signal during a time when there is a fair degree of uncertainty around financial issues.

“KiwiSaver now is being seen as a very worthwhile retirement savings vehicle.”

Since the beginning of March ASB has reported more than 25% percent jump in KiwiSaver registrations, pushing its KiwiSaver customers to well over 100,000.

Greg McAllister attributes the recent increase in savers to three factors.

“The commencement of compulsory employer contributions from 1 April, a strong push in March from our retail and commercial networks, and people looking on KiwiSaver as a solid, long term investment option.

“Our research has told us the biggest stumbling block to people signing up for KiwiSaver was that they didn’t understand it, and that it seemed complicated.

“Our solution was to make the information and application process as simple as possible. We put significant focus on educating people through a short, punchy DVD, which played in ASB branches, with copies available to the public and employers.

“The impact of our DVD resulted in over 40,000 copies being given away plus many people viewing it through our website.

A further contribution to the April upsurge was ASB Group Investment’s launch of the FirstChoice Global Sustainability Fund, which has prompted strong interest from the market. The FirstChoice Global Sustainability Fund, managed by fund managers linked to sustainability champion Al Gore, invests in global companies that meet strict sustainability criteria across all their business practices.

Ends

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