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Craigs Investment Partners KiwiSaver Review (2026)
Craigs Investment Partners runs an advice-led KiwiSaver Scheme with tiered management fees up to 1.25% p.a., a $30 annual admin fee, and 250+ selectable investment options via an adviser.
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Brent Coleman
What is Craigs Investment Partners?
Craigs Investment Partners is a New Zealand wealth advisory firm that has been operating since 1984. It is 50% owned by current and former Craigs employees and directors. It runs the Craigs KiwiSaver Scheme and a separate Craigs Superannuation Scheme, alongside wider advice-led wealth management, from more than 20 locations nationwide with over 190 investment advisers.
What can you invest in?
Most KiwiSaver schemes give you one provider's own funds to choose from. Craigs works differently. You build your own portfolio with an adviser from a list of more than 250 Australasian and international shares, funds, ETFs, investment trusts, index funds, listed property trusts and other securities.
- Craigs KiwiSaver Scheme: advice-led, with the control and flexibility to build a personalised portfolio from 250+ investment options.
- Craigs Superannuation Scheme: a separate, non-KiwiSaver retirement scheme with a wide range of investment options.
Other services
Craigs also offers wider wealth services: growing wealth, managing retirement, advice for lump sums (the sale of a business, farm or property, or an inheritance), a Women's Wealth programme, sustainable investing, wealth management for for-purpose organisations, UK pension transfers, and Australian superannuation transfers. Australian super can be moved into a NZ KiwiSaver scheme and may become accessible from age 60, or earlier for significant financial hardship or serious illness.
Scale
Craigs manages $35 billion in client funds across all its services (not just KiwiSaver) for more than 70,000 clients, from 20+ locations with 190+ advisers.
Fees
| Charge | Rate |
|---|---|
| Tiered management fee (shares and listed securities), up to $250,000 | 1.25% p.a. |
| Tiered management fee, $250,000 to $750,000 | 1.00% p.a. |
| Tiered management fee, $750,000 to $2,500,000 | 0.75% p.a. |
| Tiered management fee, above $2,500,000 | 0.25% p.a. |
| Flat management fee: NZ managed funds | 0.35% p.a. |
| Flat management fee: cash | 0.35% p.a. over $10,000; no charge on the first $10,000 |
| Total management fee cap | 1.25% p.a. of your total investment in the scheme |
| Administration fee | Up to $30 a year per member (charged October and April); free for under-18s |
| Scheme expenses (estimated) | About $15 a year per member |
| Performance fee | None at scheme level; some underlying investments may charge one |
| Brokerage | One-off, charged per trade |
Unlike most KiwiSaver schemes, the Craigs KiwiSaver Scheme is not a PIE. It is taxed as a widely-held superannuation fund at a flat 28%, which is worth factoring in when you compare after-tax returns against PIE schemes.
As an example, if you invest $10,000 you would pay $125.00 in brokerage (1.25%) up front, then a $123.44 management fee (1.25% of the remaining $9,875.00) and $45.00 in other charges over the first year. What you actually pay depends on the investments you choose and can be lower than these maximum rates.
Dispute resolution
Craigs belongs to Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), a free external dispute resolution scheme.
The bottom line
Craigs suits investors who want a personalised, adviser-built KiwiSaver portfolio from a long-established, partly employee-owned wealth manager, and not a simple fixed menu of funds. The trade-off is cost and tax: the management fee of up to 1.25% p.a. sits on top of brokerage and any fees inside the investments you pick, and returns are taxed at a flat 28% outside the usual KiwiSaver PIE rules.