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Generate KiwiSaver Review (2026)
Generate is a New Zealand fund manager with a nine-fund KiwiSaver scheme, including age-based Stepping Stones options, plus a separate eight-fund Generate Managed Funds range.
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Brent Coleman
What is Generate?
Generate Investment Management is a New Zealand-owned investment manager and KiwiSaver provider.
Its main offering is the Generate KiwiSaver Scheme, which currently has more than 200,000 members. Generate reported total funds under management of approximately $10.0 billion as at 30 June 2026.
Generate uses an active investment approach across its funds, combining internally selected investments with external managers and specialist funds.
What can you invest in?
The Generate KiwiSaver Scheme currently has nine funds:
- CashPlus
- Conservative
- Moderate
- Balanced
- Growth
- Focused Growth
- Australasian
- Thematic
- Global
The range covers everything from short-term cash investments through to concentrated growth-oriented options.
CashPlus is the lowest-risk fund and now invests entirely in cash and cash equivalents. The Australasian, Thematic and Global funds are the newest KiwiSaver options, having launched in April 2025.
Generate also offers two lifecycle investment options:
- Stepping Stones
- Stepping Stones Growth
Both automatically change your investment mix as you get older.
The standard Stepping Stones strategy currently uses seven age groups: 0–35, 36–45, 46–55, 56–60, 61–64, 65–75, and 76+.
Stepping Stones Growth follows the same general idea but keeps members exposed to a higher proportion of growth assets for longer. Its age bands differ from the standard Stepping Stones option, so the two should not be described as using the same seven-stage structure.
Outside KiwiSaver, Generate currently offers eight managed funds:
- CashPlus
- Conservative
- Balanced
- Focused Growth
- Fixed Interest
- Australasian
- Thematic
- Global
These are separate products from the KiwiSaver funds, even where the names are the same.
For example, the Focused Growth Managed Fund currently has an estimated annual fund charge of 1.31%, compared with 1.25% for the KiwiSaver Focused Growth Fund.
Responsible investing
Generate incorporates environmental, social and governance factors into its investment process and has been a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment since 2018.
Every fund in both the Generate KiwiSaver Scheme and its managed-fund range is currently accredited as a Mindful Fund by Mindful Money.
Generate specifically excludes companies involved in areas including:
- tobacco manufacturing
- processing whale meat
- cluster munitions
- anti-personnel mines
- nuclear explosive devices
It also screens investments for other environmental and social risks as part of its wider ESG process.
Generate does not apply a blanket exclusion to all fossil-fuel companies across its entire range. Instead, environmental and climate risks are considered within its ESG assessment and investment-selection process.
Some specialist funds can apply additional exclusions. For example, Generate has stated that its Thematic Managed Fund excludes fossil fuels.
Fees
Estimated annual fund charges in the Generate KiwiSaver Scheme:
| Fund | Risk (1 to 7) | Fee (p.a.) |
|---|---|---|
| CashPlus | 1 | 0.4% |
| Conservative | 3 | 1.08% |
| Moderate | 3 | 1.13% |
| Balanced | 4 | 1.22% |
| Growth | 4 | 1.23% |
| Focused Growth | 5 | 1.25% |
| Thematic | 5 | 1.18% |
| Global | 5 | 1.18% |
| Australasian | 5 | 1.19% |
Risk ratings run from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest) and are based on how much returns have moved around over five years.
Other charges
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Administration fee | $3 a month for members 18 and over |
| Entry / exit / switching fees | None. Switching between Generate KiwiSaver funds is free |
Performance
Generate has a relatively long performance history for its original KiwiSaver funds.
The Moderate, Growth and Focused Growth funds date back to April 2013, while CashPlus, Conservative and Balanced were launched in May 2022.
The Australasian, Thematic and Global KiwiSaver funds are much newer, having launched in April 2025, so they do not yet have meaningful three-, five- or ten-year track records.
The bottom line
Generate has one of the broader fund line-ups among New Zealand’s independent KiwiSaver providers.
Its nine KiwiSaver funds range from the low-risk CashPlus Fund through to specialist Australasian, Thematic and Global growth funds, while its Stepping Stones options provide automated age-based asset allocation.
Fees currently range from 0.40% for CashPlus to 1.25% for Focused Growth, plus a $3 monthly administration fee for members aged 18 and over.
Generate is predominantly an active manager, and its fees are therefore generally higher than those charged by the cheapest passive KiwiSaver providers.
Its longer-running Growth, Moderate and Focused Growth funds have established track records, while the Australasian, Thematic and Global funds are much newer and should not be assessed on short-term returns alone.