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Auckland, July 12, 2024
According to Canstar’s latest report as of May 11th, 2024, AE KiwiSaver Plan managed by Always-Ethical Limited remains the top performing KiwiSaver in the Growth section over the last five-year period with a five-year average annual return of 12.69% per annum, followed by the next best performer return of 10.56% per annum over the same period.
AE KiwiSaver is the brainchild of Auckland Barrister Brian Henry and was launched as a proof of concept “experimental” fund in 2014. The intention was for the Fund not to only rate as an ethical fund, but also to serve all persons who follow the Abrahamic religions. Always-Ethical has not deviated from that mindset or mandate. The fund appeals to investors from all walks of life.
Ethical Investments
Director Dennis Gates of Always-Ethical said: “Always-Ethical regards ethical investing as an investment strategy whereby we as the funds’ manager, select investments which are akin to our ethical values (these could be moral values, social values, or religious values, or as is mostly the case all three of these values) with the objective of earning a good and consistent return for our members/investors.”
For the financial year end 2024, Always-Ethical donated $499,836.52 to various charities that support the poor.
Always-Ethical Board Chairman Gregory Fortuin stated: “We are pleased to make these donations to charities that help the poor. Ethical funds do not normally return a yield above a regular conventional fund. We at Always Ethical are proud of what we have achieved financially within our Ethical Mandate. Our members should feel good about themselves.”
Good Performance
Mr Henry, who is the Founder and Director, added: “The fund has performed consistently well despite the restrictive investing horizon ethical funds must negotiate. It is encouraging to see ethical funds hold their own against conventional funds. This is generally not the norm.”
Disclaimer: AE KiwiSaver Plan has been number one in the Growth Fund category over the past five years according to the latest Canstar report
https://www.canstar.co.nz/kiwisaver/new-zealands-top-10-kiwisaver-schemes/
Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future performance and return periods may differ. Returns are after fees and before taxes. Please refer to the AE KiwiSaver Plan Product Disclosure Statement on our website www.always-ethical.com
Editor’s Note:
About Canstar
Canstar is an Auckland-based Australian rating company. Its 80 professionals collect, analyse and research loans, cards, policies and products. Canstar considers consumer education as a major part of its role. Its Star Ratings System aims to help consumers increase their chances of finding the right product.
“The secret to our ratings is that we compare on value, not price. Do you want to buy the cheapest car on the market? Some do, but most want a car that meets their needs in terms of size, safety, looks and so on. Our ratings balance price and features, to get overall value, which we then convert to a number of stars. We collect large amounts of information on thousands of financial products. Our Research Committee then determine the ratings using a formula or methodology. This is always displayed on the website so you can see how we have done it. Canstar New Zealand holds a Financial Advice Provider Licence and takes all its compliance obligations very seriously,” the Canstar website says.
According to Canstar, the five-year average return recorded by AE Kiwi Saver Plan was 12.69% (for an annual fee of $664.40), followed by Midford (10.64% for an annual fee of $210), Fisher Funds (9.60%, $230), Generate (9.46%, $268), Pie (8.97%, $96).
According to the latest Kiwi Saver Report, there are 3.25 million KiwiSaver members, who have $93.7 billion invested across 38 schemes. Between those providers, there are over 300 different Funds, offering a wide range of investment options, growth strategies and different levels of risk.
