Milford: Canstar’s KiwiSaver Provider of the Year

For the sixth year in a row, Milford is Canstar’s Provider of the Year KiwiSaver, due to its great returns and the high levels of support and advice it offers its KiwiSaver members.

In awarding Milford its top KiwiSaver accolade, our expert research team noted that Milford delivers:

• Market-leading returns
• Great product features, for example its investor app
• High levels of customer support
• A range of investment options to suit all KiwiSaver investors
• Competitive fees

How is Canstar’s KiwiSaver Provider of the Year evaluated?

Canstar’s KiwiSaver Provider of the Year Award uses a sophisticated and unique methodology that looks at more than just investment returns.

Our research team compares the costs, features and performance of KiwiSaver funds, as well as the value and customer satisfaction delivered by a KiwiSaver provider. And, importantly, we don’t just look at short-term results.

KiwiSaver is intended as a long-term investment. And our research reflects this, rewarding providers for their average returns over the past five years.

For this year’s ratings, Canstar researched:

• 18 Providers
• 19 Schemes
• 126 KiwiSaver Funds

To determine our Provider of the Year, eligible KiwiSaver funds are rated across four main categories:

Performance: Most importantly, this covers annual returns, but it also looks at consistency of performance. This means how returns fluctuate year to year – whether they are consistent or vary wildly.

Features: Features include: the range of investment options offered by a KiwiSaver provider, the financial advice, tools and support provided, and ease of member access.

Price: Annual cost to members, including fees and total fund charges.

Customer Satisfaction: How everyday KiwiSaver members rate their providers on delivering customer service and value for money.

Milford achieves another KiwiSaver Award hat-trick

For the second year in a row Milford has achieved a remarkable hat-trick across Canstar’s KiwiSaver awards. For in addition to Provider of the Year, it’s also the recipient of two other top accolades:

Most Satisfied Customers KiwiSaver Award

To decide which KiwiSaver provider offers the best levels of customer satisfaction, we ask KiwiSaver members to rate their providers’ performance across seven categories. On the results of our findings we then award the provider that delivers the best overall satisfaction our Most Satisfied Customers Award.

For this year’s award, we canvassed the opinions of 3246 New Zealanders with KiwiSaver accounts across 13 providers. They were asked to rate their satisfaction with their providers’ performance across the following categories:

Outstanding Value KiwiSaver Schemes

This year Milford is also one of three KiwiSaver providers to earn an Outstanding Value KiwiSaver Scheme Award. Due to its incredible investment team, Milford receives top 5-Star ratings across the three profiles considered in our award:

• Conservative
• Balanced
• Growth

Outstanding Value KiwiSaver Schemes | Find Out More

Milford: Canstar’s KiwiSaver Provider of the Year 2020-2025

Founded in 2003, Milford is a majority Kiwi-owned company. It employs over 200 staff across offices in Auckland, Cambridge, Christchurch, Tauranga, Wanaka, Wellington and Australia.

Milford currently manages funds worth over $25 billion, all of which are actively managed and sustainably invested.

It operates six actively managed KiwiSaver funds, each with a different investor profile:

Through its easy-to-use app and website, Milford provides regular detailed research and insights to inform and promote active participation in investment choices by its KiwiSaver members.

Compare KiwiSaver Providers with Canstar

If you’re comparing KiwiSaver funds, the comparison table below displays some of the products currently available on Canstar’s database for a KiwiSaver member with a balance of $20,000 in a Growth fund, sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest), followed by company name (alphabetical) – some may have links to providers’ websites. Use Canstar’s KiwiSaver comparison selector to view a wider range of retirement funds. Canstar may earn a fee for referrals.

To read more about our Outstanding Value KiwiSaver awards click this link. Or to compare KiwiSaver providers, click on the button below.

Compare KiwiSaver providers for free with Canstar!

About the author of this page

Bruce Pitchers is Canstar NZ’s Content Manager. An experienced finance reporter, he has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in Australia, the UK and NZ, including ACP, Are Media, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. As a freelancer, he has worked for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority and major banks and investment companies on both sides of the Tasman.
In his role at Canstar, he has been a regular commentator in the NZ media, including on the Driven, Stuff and One Roof websites, the NZ Herald, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from Canstar, Bruce creates puzzles for magazines and newspapers, including Woman’s Day and New Idea. He is also the co-author of the murder-mystery book 5 Minute Murder.