Morningstar has released its KiwiSaver 360 survey for the June 2026 quarter, and the headline says it all: "KiwiSaver soars as the market rips in the June quarter." After Q1's Iran-conflict shock knocked returns into negative territory across most risk categories, Q2 flipped hard the other way.
Below is the full breakdown: the market-wide numbers, and the top 5 funds by return in every risk category Morningstar tracks, from Conservative right through to Aggressive, plus every single-sector category (Cash, Fixed Interest, Shares, Property).
This is a summary of Morningstar's own published data, not financial advice or a recommendation to invest in any specific fund. Past performance doesn't predict future returns.
What happened to KiwiSaver in the June 2026 quarter?
Q1 2026 was dominated by the Iran conflict, which triggered a sharp but short-lived risk-off move: equities sold off, oil prices spiked, and bond yields rose on inflation fears. That shock unwound almost completely in Q2. A temporary ceasefire and the reopening of Strait of Hormuz shipping stabilised energy markets, oil retraced most of its spike, and global equities rebounded strongly, led by the US and tech stocks on AI enthusiasm and resilient corporate earnings. NZ equities recovered too, but continued to lag global peers on subdued domestic conditions.
Morningstar's own framing: diversified portfolios that absorbed the Q1 volatility "generally participated well in the recovery" - the same lesson as last quarter, just from the opposite direction.
KiwiSaver by the numbers: Q2 2026 vs Q1 2026
The whole KiwiSaver market grew to $147.7 billion, up around $11.3 billion on the quarter, spread across 25 providers and 325 products (down slightly from 336). Estimated annual fees charged across the market rose to about $1.2 billion, though the asset-weighted average fee stayed flat at 0.81%.
- Best 3-month return: +31.8% - koura Clean Energy
- Best 12-month return: +98.4% - Kernel S&P Global Clean Energy (also last quarter's leader)
- Worst 3-month return: -13.0% - koura Scheme, Koura Bitcoin
- Worst 12-month return: -41.9% - koura Scheme, Koura Bitcoin
By asset allocation, International Shares grew from 43.0% to 45.4% of the total KiwiSaver pool on the quarter's equity rally, while Cash & NZ Bonds fell from 23.6% to 21.3% of a larger total pie.
Category averages: risk was rewarded this quarter
Q1 penalised risk (Aggressive funds fell furthest in the sell-off). Q2 was the mirror image: Aggressive funds returned 11.9% for the quarter on average, against just 3.3% for Conservative funds. The same pattern held over every longer period Morningstar tracks too.
- Default Options: 8.2% (3-month), 13.2% (1-year)
- Conservative: 3.3% (3-month), 5.8% (1-year), 6.4% p.a. (3-year)
- Moderate: 4.8% (3-month), 7.6% (1-year), 7.5% p.a. (3-year)
- Balanced: 7.6% (3-month), 12.2% (1-year), 10.5% p.a. (3-year)
- Growth: 9.2% (3-month), 13.9% (1-year), 11.5% p.a. (3-year)
- Aggressive: 11.9% (3-month), 18.9% (1-year), 14.5% p.a. (3-year)
These are category-wide fund averages, not any single fund - individual fund results vary a lot, which is exactly what the tables below show.
Top 5 funds by category: Q2 2026
Each table below shows the top 5 performing funds for the 3-month, 1-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year periods to 30 June 2026, within that risk category. A "--" means Morningstar didn't publish a ranked return for that period (either the fund is too new, or the category itself, like Default Options, doesn't track returns that far back).
Default Options
Fisher Funds Plan Default takes the top spot for both 1-year and 3-year returns, continuing the pattern Morningstar flagged last quarter of the highest-returning default fund not being the cheapest.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | SuperLife Default (9.0%) | Fisher Funds Plan Default (16.1%) | Fisher Funds Plan Default (11.5%) | -- | -- |
| 2 | Simplicity Default (8.6%) | BNZ Default (13.4%) | BNZ Default (11.3%) | -- | -- |
| 3 | BNZ Default (8.3%) | Simplicity Default (13.3%) | Simplicity Default (11.0%) | -- | -- |
| 4 | Booster Default Saver (7.8%) | Westpac Default Balanced (12.3%) | Booster Default Saver (10.9%) | -- | -- |
| 5 | Fisher Funds Plan Default (7.7%) | Booster Default Saver (12.2%) | Westpac Default Balanced (10.5%) | -- | -- |
Conservative
ASB Scheme's Conservative fund holds #1 for both 1-year and 3-year returns for a second consecutive quarter, while QuayStreet Conservative leads on the longer 5-year and 10-year measures.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | Generate Conservative Fund (5.5%) | ASB Scheme's Cnsrv (7.9%) | ASB Scheme's Cnsrv (7.7%) | QuayStreet Conservative (4.4%) | QuayStreet Conservative (4.8%) |
| 2 | MAS Conservative (4.6%) | AMP Global Select Consrv Fd (7.8%) | Generate Conservative Fund (7.4%) | QuayStreet Income (4.2%) | Milford Conservative Fund (4.7%) |
| 3 | NZ Defence Force Conservative (4.0%) | MAS Conservative (6.9%) | QuayStreet Conservative (7.1%) | BNZ First Home Buyer Fund (3.7%) | QuayStreet Income (4.6%) |
| 4 | Westpac Defensive Conservative (4.0%) | Westpac Defensive Conservative (6.7%) | Westpac Defensive Conservative (7.0%) | Fisher Funds Plan Def Conserv (3.7%) | Fisher Funds Plan Def Conserv (4.5%) |
| 5 | Mercer Responsible Conservativ (3.9%) | NZ Defence Force Conservative (6.7%) | MAS Conservative (6.9%) | Pathfinder Conservative Fund (3.6%) | ASB Scheme's Cnsrv (4.2%) |
Moderate
ASB Scheme's Moderate newly ranks #1 for 3-year returns this quarter, while MAS Moderate leads on the shorter 1-year and longer 10-year periods.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | Generate Moderate (7.9%) | MAS Moderate (10.7%) | ASB Scheme's Moderate (9.4%) | Generate Moderate (5.2%) | MAS Moderate (5.9%) |
| 2 | MAS Moderate (7.1%) | ASB Scheme's Moderate (10.5%) | Westpac Moderate (9.2%) | ASB Scheme's Moderate (4.8%) | BNZ Moderate Fund (5.7%) |
| 3 | Westpac Moderate (6.3%) | AMP Moderate (10.5%) | Generate Moderate (9.1%) | SBS Wealth LS 60-64 (4.8%) | Generate Moderate (5.7%) |
| 4 | AMP Moderate (6.0%) | Westpac Moderate (10.2%) | AMP Moderate (8.9%) | Milford Moderate Fund (4.6%) | Westpac Moderate (5.6%) |
| 5 | BNZ Moderate Fund (5.9%) | SBS Wealth LS 60-64 (9.9%) | MAS Moderate (8.9%) | Westpac Moderate (4.6%) | ASB Scheme's Moderate (5.5%) |
Balanced
Kernel Balanced Fund ranks #1 for both 1-year and 3-year returns, while QuayStreet Balanced and Milford Balanced Fund lead over the longer 5-year and 10-year periods respectively.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | Generate Balanced Fund (9.9%) | Kernel Balanced Fund (14.9%) | Kernel Balanced Fund (12.7%) | QuayStreet Balanced (8.4%) | Milford Balanced Fund (8.2%) |
| 2 | MAS Balanced (9.8%) | MAS Balanced (14.9%) | QuayStreet Socially Rspnb Inv (12.0%) | QuayStreet Socially Rspnb Inv (8.2%) | QuayStreet Balanced (8.1%) |
| 3 | SuperLife Default (9.0%) | AMP Balanced (14.1%) | AMP Balanced (11.7%) | InvestNow Foundation Srs Bal (6.6%) | QuayStreet Socially Rspnb Inv (7.8%) |
| 4 | InvestNow Foundation Srs Bal (8.8%) | NZ Defence Force Balanced (14.0%) | ASB Scheme's Balanced (11.5%) | SBS Wealth LS 55-59 (6.4%) | MAS Balanced (7.8%) |
| 5 | Westpac Balanced Fund (8.8%) | Westpac Balanced Fund (13.9%) | QuayStreet Balanced (11.4%) | ASB Scheme's Balanced (6.4%) | ASB Scheme's Balanced (7.6%) |
Growth
Milford Active Growth Fund - the largest single Growth fund in the survey by assets - still leads on 10-year returns, while AMP and MAS funds top the shorter time periods.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | MAS Growth (12.5%) | AMP Global Select Gr Fund (21.5%) | AMP Growth (14.2%) | QuayStreet Growth (10.1%) | Milford Active Growth Fund (10.2%) |
| 2 | Generate Growth Fund (12.0%) | MAS Growth (19.0%) | Simplicity Growth Fund (13.8%) | InvestNow Foundation Srs Grwth (8.5%) | QuayStreet Growth (9.7%) |
| 3 | InvestNow Foundation Srs Grwth (11.1%) | AMP Global Select Bal Gr Fd (18.4%) | ASB Scheme's Growth (13.5%) | Simplicity Growth Fund (8.3%) | MAS Growth (9.6%) |
| 4 | Westpac Growth Fund (11.1%) | AMP Growth (18.1%) | Westpac Growth Fund (13.4%) | SBS Wealth LS 50-54 (8.1%) | Generate Growth Fund (9.5%) |
| 5 | Simplicity Growth Fund (11.0%) | SBS Wealth LS 50-54 (17.6%) | QuayStreet Growth (13.3%) | ASB Scheme's Growth (7.9%) | BNZ Growth Fund (9.4%) |
Aggressive
Kernel High Growth Fund ranks #1 for 3-year returns at the lowest fee in the category, koura Strategic High Growth leads for 1-year, and Generate Focused Growth Fund - the largest Aggressive fund by assets - tops the 10-year period.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | MAS Aggressive (14.4%) | koura Strategic High Growth (26.5%) | Kernel High Growth (17.1%) | SBS Wealth LS 0-49 (9.7%) | Generate Focused Growth Fund (11.1%) |
| 2 | Generate Focused Growth Fund (14.4%) | Kernel High Growth (22.7%) | AMP Aggressive (16.0%) | SBS Wealth High Growth (9.5%) | Booster Socially Rsp Hi Gr (11.0%) |
| 3 | koura Strategic High Growth (13.8%) | MAS Aggressive (22.2%) | Simplicity High Growth (16.0%) | AMP Aggressive (8.9%) | MAS Aggressive (10.8%) |
| 4 | Westpac High Growth Fund (13.6%) | SBS Wealth LS 0-49 (21.8%) | SBS Wealth LS 0-49 (15.5%) | SuperLife High Growth (8.8%) | SBS Wealth LS 0-49 (10.6%) |
| 5 | Simplicity High Growth (13.3%) | InvestNow Fndtn Ser High Gr (21.5%) | Generate Focused Growth Fund (15.4%) | Generate Focused Growth Fund (8.6%) | SBS Wealth High Growth (10.5%) |
Cash
Kernel Cash Plus Fund and MAS Cash trade the top spots across the shorter time periods, while Fisher Funds Plan Cash leads over 10 years.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | Kernel Cash Plus Fund (0.9%) | MAS Cash (3.5%) | Generate CashPlus (5.4%) | Westpac Cash Fund (3.9%) | Fisher Funds Plan Cash (2.9%) |
| 2 | MAS Cash (0.8%) | Kernel Cash Plus Fund (3.5%) | Kernel Cash Plus Fund (5.1%) | GoalsGetter Amova NZ Cash (3.8%) | MAS Cash (2.8%) |
| 3 | Generate CashPlus (0.8%) | SuperLife NZ Cash (3.4%) | MAS Cash (4.8%) | MAS Cash (3.8%) | Westpac Cash Fund (2.8%) |
| 4 | ANZ Cash (0.7%) | Westpac Cash Fund (3.2%) | Westpac Cash Fund (4.7%) | ANZ Cash (3.8%) | ANZ Cash (2.8%) |
| 5 | Fisher Funds Plan Cash (0.7%) | ANZ Cash (3.1%) | GoalsGetter Amova NZ Cash (4.7%) | Fisher Funds Plan Cash (3.7%) | SuperLife NZ Cash (2.8%) |
NZ Fixed Interest
SuperLife's S&P/NZX NZ Government Bond fund leads the shorter periods, while QuayStreet Fixed Interest takes the top spot over 5 and 10 years.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | SuperLife S&P/NZX NZ Gov Bd (4.9%) | SuperLife S&P/NZX NZ Gov Bd (6.9%) | GoalsGetter Amova NZ Corp Bd (6.3%) | QuayStreet Fixed Interest (2.9%) | QuayStreet Fixed Interest (3.3%) |
| 2 | Kernel NZ Bond Fund (3.1%) | Kernel NZ Bond Fund (6.1%) | InvestNow Hrbr NZ Core Fxd Int (6.0%) | GoalsGetter Amova NZ Corp Bd (2.7%) | SuperLife NZ Bonds (3.3%) |
| 3 | OneAnswer NZ Fixed Interest (3.0%) | InvestNow Hrbr NZ Core Fxd Int (5.4%) | QuayStreet Fixed Interest (6.0%) | SuperLife NZ Bonds (2.5%) | OneAnswer NZ Fixed Interest (2.3%) |
| 4 | AMP NZ Fixed Interest (2.9%) | InvestNow Macq NZ Fxd Intst (5.2%) | Koura Fixed Interest (6.0%) | Koura Fixed Interest (2.4%) | -- |
| 5 | InvestNow Macq NZ Fxd Intst (2.8%) | OneAnswer NZ Fixed Interest (5.1%) | Summer New Zealand Fixed Int (5.8%) | Summer New Zealand Fixed Int (2.2%) | -- |
Global Fixed Interest
SuperLife funds dominate this category, taking the top spot in four of the five time periods shown.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | SuperLife Overseas Bonds (2.3%) | SuperLife Income (3.1%) | SuperLife Overseas Non Govt Bd (4.2%) | SuperLife Income (1.2%) | SuperLife Income (2.4%) |
| 2 | Summer Global Fixed Interest (1.7%) | SuperLife Overseas Non Govt Bd (2.2%) | InvestNow Hunter Glbl Fxd Int (4.2%) | Summer Global Fixed Interest (1.1%) | SuperLife Overseas Bonds (2.2%) |
| 3 | InvestNow Hunter Glbl Fxd Int (1.7%) | InvestNow Hunter Glbl Fxd Int (2.0%) | Summer Global Fixed Interest (3.9%) | InvestNow Hunter Glbl Fxd Int (0.5%) | SuperLife Overseas Non Govt Bd (1.3%) |
| 4 | SuperLife Income (1.7%) | Summer Global Fixed Interest (1.9%) | SuperLife Income (3.7%) | SuperLife Overseas Bonds (0.5%) | OneAnswer Intl Fxd Int (0.8%) |
| 5 | SuperLife Overseas Non Govt Bd (1.6%) | Kernel US Bond Fund (1.8%) | OneAnswer Intl Fxd Int (3.3%) | SuperLife Overseas Non Govt Bd (-0.2%) | -- |
International Shares
koura Clean Energy and Kernel S&P Global Clean Energy continue to top the shorter periods on the same AI/clean-energy rally driving this quarter's headline numbers, while OneAnswer Sustainable International Shares leads over 10 years.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | Koura Clean Energy (31.8%) | Kernel S&P Global Clean Energy (98.4%) | Kernel S&P Global 100 (26.2%) | InvestNow Clarity Global Shrs (16.2%) | OneAnswer Sustainable Int Shr (16.5%) |
| 2 | GoalsGetter KiwiSaverAmovaARKDsrptInnovt (27.4%) | Koura Clean Energy (97.9%) | GoalsGetter KiwiSaverAmovaARKDsrptInnovt (25.1%) | QuayStreet International Eq (15.5%) | SuperLife Total World (14.5%) |
| 3 | InvestNow T. Rowe Pr Glb Eq Gr (19.6%) | Kernel S&P Global 100 (36.8%) | InvestNow Clarity Global Shrs (23.3%) | SuperLife Overseas Shares (15.1%) | SuperLife Overseas Shares (14.4%) |
| 4 | SuperLife Overseas Shares (18.8%) | InvestNow Fndtn Ser Glbl ESG (32.8%) | InvestNow Fndtn Srs Ttl Wld (22.7%) | SuperLife Total World (14.7%) | QuayStreet International Eq (13.9%) |
| 5 | SuperLife Total World (18.0%) | InvestNow Fndtn Srs Ttl Wld (32.6%) | SuperLife Total World (22.1%) | OneAnswer Sustainable Int Shr (14.5%) | OneAnswer Intl Share (13.7%) |
International Shares (Hedged)
Kernel's S&P Global 100 NZD Hedged fund leads both the 1-year and 3-year periods, on the back of the same US/tech rally.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | Generate Thematic Fund (23.7%) | Kernel S&P Global 100 NZD Hdg (26.6%) | Kernel S&P Global 100 NZD Hdg (21.8%) | AMP International Shares (12.2%) | SuperLife Ovrs ShrsCcyH (11.3%) |
| 2 | Kernel Global ESG NZD Hedged (17.2%) | InvestNow Mercer AC Gl Sh Idx (25.6%) | AMP International Shares (19.9%) | InvestNow Mercer AC Gl Sh Idx (11.9%) | -- |
| 3 | InvestNow Mercer AC Gl Sh Idx (17.1%) | Generate Thematic Fund (24.2%) | InvestNow Mercer AC Gl Sh Idx (19.6%) | SuperLife Ovrs ShrsCcyH (10.6%) | -- |
| 4 | Generate Global Fund (17.0%) | AMP International Shares (24.2%) | SuperLife Total Wld (NZD H) (18.3%) | SuperLife Total Wld (NZD H) (10.4%) | -- |
| 5 | SuperLife Ovrs ShrsCcyH (16.7%) | InvestNow Fndtn H Srs Ttl Wld (23.6%) | SuperLife Ovrs ShrsCcyH (18.1%) | InvestNow Rssll Inv H Glb Shrs (9.2%) | -- |
Australasian Shares
SuperLife funds sweep every single ranking spot in this category this quarter, led by SuperLife Aust Resources' standout 66.7% 1-year return.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | SuperLife Aust Property (11.8%) | SuperLife Aust Res (66.7%) | SuperLife Aust Financials (22.9%) | SuperLife Aust Financials (14.2%) | SuperLife Aust Res (16.7%) |
| 2 | InvestNow Mint Australasian Eq (7.9%) | SuperLife Aust Top 20 (24.9%) | SuperLife Aust Top 20 (16.3%) | SuperLife Aust Res (13.7%) | SuperLife Aust Mid Cap (11.7%) |
| 3 | SuperLife Aust Mid Cap (7.6%) | SuperLife Aust Mid Cap (19.9%) | SuperLife Aust Res (15.1%) | SuperLife Aust Top 20 (11.1%) | SuperLife Aust Top 20 (11.6%) |
| 4 | OneAnswer Australasian Share (7.2%) | SuperLife Aust Dividend (19.6%) | SuperLife Aust Dividend (14.7%) | SuperLife Aust Dividend (10.6%) | SuperLife Aust Financials (11.5%) |
| 5 | InvestNow Castle Pnt Trns-Tsmn (6.9%) | SuperLife S&P/ASX 200 (19.1%) | SuperLife S&P/ASX 200 (14.1%) | SuperLife S&P/ASX 200 (9.8%) | SuperLife Aust Shares (10.4%) |
Property
OneAnswer International Property holds the #1 spot across every time period from 3-month through 10-year - the most consistent single-fund result of any category this quarter.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | OneAnswer Intl Property (12.3%) | OneAnswer Intl Property (18.1%) | OneAnswer Intl Property (10.9%) | OneAnswer Intl Property (3.5%) | OneAnswer Intl Property (4.3%) |
| 2 | Kernel Global Property NZD Hdg (10.6%) | Kernel Global Property NZD Hdg (16.7%) | Kernel Global Property NZD Hdg (10.6%) | SuperLife Global Prpty (1.2%) | SuperLife Global Prpty (4.2%) |
| 3 | SuperLife Global Prpty (10.6%) | InvestNow Macq Glbl Prpty Sec (15.5%) | InvestNow Macq Glbl Prpty Sec (9.8%) | Summer Listed Property (-1.9%) | SuperLife NZ Property (4.2%) |
| 4 | InvestNow Macq Glbl Prpty Sec (10.3%) | SuperLife Global Prpty (9.6%) | SuperLife Global Prpty (7.2%) | SuperLife NZ Property (-1.9%) | OneAnswer Australasian Prpty (3.4%) |
| 5 | OneAnswer Australasian Prpty (8.8%) | SuperLife NZ Property (6.5%) | InvestNow Salt Enhanced Prop (2.5%) | OneAnswer Australasian Prpty (-2.8%) | -- |
US Equities
InvestNow's Foundation Series Nasdaq-100 fund leads the shorter periods on the AI-driven tech rally, while SuperLife's US Large Growth and US 500 funds take the longer-term top spots.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | InvestNow Fndtn Ser Nasdaq-100 (28.0%) | InvestNow Fndtn Ser Nasdaq-100 (43.1%) | SuperLife US Large Growth (24.9%) | SuperLife US 500 (17.1%) | SuperLife US Large Growth (19.6%) |
| 2 | SuperLife US Large Growth (24.3%) | SuperLife US Small Cap (37.6%) | InvestNow Fndtn Srs US 500 (23.6%) | SuperLife US Large Growth (16.8%) | SuperLife US 500 (17.1%) |
| 3 | SuperLife US Small Cap (19.2%) | SuperLife US Large Value (33.7%) | SuperLife US 500 (22.9%) | SuperLife US Large Value (16.2%) | SuperLife US Large Value (14.3%) |
| 4 | SuperLife US 500 (18.4%) | InvestNow Fndtn Srs US 500 (30.5%) | Koura US Equities (21.3%) | Koura US Equities (13.1%) | SuperLife US Mid Cap (13.6%) |
| 5 | InvestNow Fndtn Srs US 500 (15.6%) | Kernel S&P 500 (unhedged) Fd (30.2%) | SuperLife US Large Value (20.0%) | SuperLife US Mid Cap (11.6%) | SuperLife US Small Cap (13.5%) |
Miscellaneous
Koura Emerging Markets Equities leads the shorter periods, while Koura Scheme's Bitcoin fund - despite its rough year overall - still posted the single best 3-year return in this category at 25.9%.
| Rank | 3M | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y |
|---|
| 1 | Koura Emerging Markets Eqs (21.9%) | Koura Emerging Markets Eqs (46.7%) | Koura Scheme - Koura Bitcoin (25.9%) | SuperLife Europe (12.2%) | Booster Geared Growth (12.1%) |
| 2 | Booster Socially Rspnb Grd Gr (14.8%) | Kernel Emerging Markets Fund (32.1%) | Koura Emerging Markets Eqs (23.2%) | Koura Emerging Markets Eqs (11.0%) | SuperLife Europe (11.5%) |
| 3 | Booster Geared Growth (13.3%) | SuperLife Emerging Mkts (29.8%) | SuperLife Emerging Mkts (18.2%) | Booster Geared Growth (8.2%) | SuperLife Emerging Mkts (9.5%) |
| 4 | SuperLife Emerging Mkts (12.3%) | SuperLife Europe (23.3%) | SuperLife Europe (18.2%) | SuperLife Emerging Mkts (7.9%) | SuperLife UK Cash (2.7%) |
| 5 | Kernel Emerging Markets Fund (11.7%) | Booster Geared Growth (19.8%) | Booster Socially Rspnb Grd Gr (16.0%) | SuperLife UK Cash (5.1%) | Booster Capital Guaranteed (2.6%) |
Provider standouts this quarter
Kernel - Kernel High Growth Fund ranked #1 in the Aggressive category for 3-year return (17.1% p.a., cheapest in category at 0.25%) and #2 for 1-year. Kernel Balanced Fund ranked #1 in Balanced for 3-year (12.7% p.a.). Kernel S&P Global Clean Energy remains the highest 12-month performer market-wide for a second straight quarter (98.4%, up from 87.9% in Q1).
ASB - ASB Scheme's Conservative again ranked #1 in Conservative for both 1-year (7.9%) and 3-year (7.7%). ASB Scheme's Moderate newly ranked #1 in Moderate for 3-year (9.4% p.a.) this quarter.
Milford - Milford Active Growth Fund remains the largest single fund in the Growth category by assets ($8.957 billion) and still ranks #1 for 10-year return (10.2% p.a.) despite a weak 3-month/1-year showing - the same "strong long-term, weak short-term" pattern as last quarter.
QuayStreet - the small-AUM, consistently-high-ranking pattern continues: QuayStreet Growth ranked #1 for 5-year and 10-year in Growth; QuayStreet Balanced ranked #1 for 5-year in Balanced; QuayStreet Conservative ranked #1 for both 5-year and 10-year in Conservative.
SBS Wealth - this quarter the #1 5-year Aggressive-category return (9.7% p.a.) belongs to SBS Wealth LS 0-49, not "SBS Wealth High Growth Fund" by name, which ranked #2 (9.5%). It's not yet clear whether this is the same underlying fund under two labels or a genuine change of leader.
koura - new standout this quarter: koura Strategic High Growth ranked #1 for 1-year in the Aggressive category (26.5%), and koura Clean Energy posted the highest 3-month return market-wide (31.8%).
Generate - Generate Focused Growth Fund ranked #1 for 10-year in Aggressive (11.1% p.a., the largest Aggressive-category fund by assets) and #2 for 3-month.
Morningstar's own commentary specifically calls out Generate, MAS and AMP as "consistently higher in the rankings in the three-month and one-year periods across risk profiles" this quarter.
Where's NZ Funds?
You won't find NZ Funds anywhere in these tables. Morningstar confirms in this edition: "NZ Funds have decided not to submit information to our database as of March 2020 and have been removed from the performance tables." It's not a gap in this data - NZ Funds simply isn't part of Morningstar's KiwiSaver 360 survey at all.
Bottom line
The June 2026 quarter was about as clean a reversal of Q1 as you could script: the same geopolitical shock that hammered risk assets in March unwound almost entirely by June, and the categories that fell furthest in Q1 (Aggressive, Growth) bounced back the hardest. Kernel, ASB, Milford, QuayStreet, koura and Generate all had funds ranking #1 somewhere in these tables, which is a reminder that "best fund" always depends on which category and which time period you're looking at.
As always with any performance table: past returns don't predict future ones, and a #1 ranking for one quarter's 3-month return says very little about how a fund will perform over the long run. Fees, risk category and time horizon all matter more than chasing last quarter's leaderboard.
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