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Booster KiwiSaver Review (2026)
Booster is an NZ fund manager with an 18-fund KiwiSaver scheme, a 5-fund Wealth Series of managed funds (including a geared fund), and the Booster Savvy cash account.
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Brent Coleman
What is Booster?
Booster is a New Zealand-owned investment and financial-services company that has been operating since 1998.
It manages around $8 billion for more than 200,000 New Zealanders and is one of the Government-appointed default KiwiSaver providers. Booster Investment Management Limited is the issuer and manager of the Booster KiwiSaver Scheme.
Alongside KiwiSaver, Booster offers a wider range of managed funds, including its Wealth Series, as well as Booster Savvy, a managed cash fund designed for everyday spending and saving.
Booster KiwiSaver Scheme
Booster’s disclosures currently cover 18 KiwiSaver funds:
- Conservative
- Asset Class Conservative
- Enhanced Cash
- Capital Guaranteed
- Moderate
- Socially Responsible Moderate
- Default Saver
- Asset Class Balanced
- Balanced
- Socially Responsible Balanced
- Asset Class Growth
- Growth
- Shielded Growth
- Socially Responsible Growth
- High Growth
- Socially Responsible High Growth
- Geared Growth
- Socially Responsible Geared Growth
The Conservative Fund is closed to new investment. Booster’s public comparison tool currently highlights 14 funds available across Conservative, Balanced, Growth and High Growth categories.
The two geared funds borrow money to increase their exposure to investments, which can amplify both gains and losses.
Booster KiwiSaver fees
You pay two ongoing fees in the Booster KiwiSaver Scheme: an annual fund charge, which is a percentage of your balance, and a member fee of $3 a month.
Annual fund charge by fund
The annual fund charge depends on which fund you're in and how much you have invested. Most members pay the rate in the first column. Once you have more than $200,000 in Booster KiwiSaver funds, the charge steps down.
| Fund | Up to $200,000 | $200,000 to $500,000 | $500,000 to $1m | $1m to $2m | Above $2m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default Saver | 0.35% | 0.35% | 0.35% | 0.35% | 0.35% |
| Conservative (closed to new investment) | 0.38% | 0.38% | 0.38% | 0.38% | 0.38% |
| Enhanced Cash | 0.75% | 0.45% | 0.25% | 0.15% | 0.00% |
| Capital Guaranteed | 0.91% | 0.61% | 0.41% | 0.31% | 0.09% |
| Asset Class Conservative | 1.11% | 0.97% | 0.87% | 0.79% | 0.72% |
| Moderate | 1.11% | 0.81% | 0.61% | 0.51% | 0.29% |
| Socially Responsible Moderate | 1.10% | 0.80% | 0.60% | 0.50% | 0.28% |
| Asset Class Balanced | 1.18% | 1.04% | 0.94% | 0.86% | 0.79% |
| Balanced | 1.22% | 0.92% | 0.72% | 0.62% | 0.40% |
| Socially Responsible Balanced | 1.22% | 0.92% | 0.72% | 0.62% | 0.40% |
| Asset Class Growth | 1.24% | 1.10% | 1.00% | 0.92% | 0.85% |
| Growth | 1.28% | 1.00% | 0.80% | 0.70% | 0.48% |
| Socially Responsible Growth | 1.23% | 0.93% | 0.73% | 0.63% | 0.41% |
| Shielded Growth | 1.35% | 1.05% | 0.85% | 0.75% | 0.53% |
| High Growth | 1.34% | 1.04% | 0.84% | 0.74% | 0.52% |
| Socially Responsible High Growth | 1.24% | 0.94% | 0.74% | 0.64% | 0.42% |
| Geared Growth* | 1.74% | 1.44% | 1.24% | 1.12% | 0.92% |
| Socially Responsible Geared Growth* | 1.64% | 1.35% | 1.15% | 1.05% | 0.83% |
*Interest costs on the two geared funds come on top of the charge shown.
A few things stand out:
- The Default Saver Fund is the cheapest at 0.35%, and it's the only fund with no member fee.
- Most of the diversified funds cost between 1.10% and 1.35% a year on balances up to $200,000.
- The Socially Responsible funds cost the same as, or slightly less than, the standard versions.
- The Default Saver and Conservative funds stay at the same rate whatever your balance.
Member fee
Every fund except Default Saver has a member fee of $3 a month ($36 a year). Booster only charges it once your balance is over $500.
Discounts for larger balances
If you have more than $200,000 invested in Booster KiwiSaver funds, not counting money in the Default Saver or Conservative funds, you get a rebate on your annual fund charge. There are four tiers, and the rebate gets bigger as your balance grows, which is what the last four columns of the table show.
The rebate is worked out daily on the total value of your investments and paid at the end of each month as extra units in your fund.
Extra costs on the geared funds
The Geared Growth and Socially Responsible Geared Growth funds borrow to invest, and that borrowing has its own costs. Booster charges a gearing fee of 1.1% a year on the borrowed portion of the fund, and the fund also pays interest on what it borrows. The interest comes on top of the annual fund charge in the table, so the real cost of these two funds is higher than the headline rate and moves with interest rates.
What the annual fund charge covers
The annual fund charge is meant to be the all-in cost of investing in a fund. It doesn't include the member fee or one-off account fees. It covers:
- Booster's management fee, which pays for running and investing the fund, the supervisor, and costs like audit and legal.
- Fees from the outside fund managers Booster uses. Booster generally rebates these back to the fund.
- A foreign exchange fee of up to 0.50% on currency transactions in some funds.
- An estimate of any performance fees. These can apply to funds that invest in Booster Tahi LP or the Booster Innovation Fund, which includes the Moderate, Balanced, Growth, Shielded Growth, High Growth and Geared Growth funds and their Socially Responsible versions.
One-off fees
There is a $30 fee to close your account. Booster doesn't list a charge for opening an account, contributing, withdrawing or switching funds.
The bottom line
Booster has one of the widest KiwiSaver ranges in New Zealand, including standard, socially responsible, asset-class and geared options.
Its fee structure is more complicated than many competitors. Depending on the fund and your balance, costs can include annual fund charges, a $36 member fee, gearing fees and interest costs, while larger balances may qualify for fee rebates.
Outside KiwiSaver, Booster also offers the five-fund Wealth Series and Savvy, which combines a managed cash investment with everyday spending features.
The main thing to understand is that the headline fund fee does not always tell the full story, particularly for geared funds and larger KiwiSaver balances. If you're weighing Booster against other schemes, our guide on how to choose a KiwiSaver provider covers what to compare.