KiwiSaver funds take tumble

Many KiwiSaver members may be looking at their returns with a wince as global volatility causes investments to slump across the market. Chris Douglas, principal of investment consultancy My Fiduciary, said data up to the end of August showed the average KiwiSaver balanced fund was down 8.5% this year. ‘‘Equity markets fell off anywhere between 10% and 20%. But at the same time rising global interest rates have negatively impacted fixed income assets,’’ Douglas said. Shares and fixed interest investments are two key elements of most KiwiSaver funds, and they both dropped at the same time, which meant pain for almost all KiwiSaver balances, he said. The ANZ KiwiSaver balanced fund was down 2.2% in the past three months, and down 9.68% over the year. ASB’s balanced fund was down 1.05% in the three months and 8.69% over the year. Milford’s dropped 0.24% in the three months and 3.96% over the past year, and Simplicity was also down 1.04% in the three months and 10.37% over the year.