Pathfinder KiwiSaver Review (2026)

What is Pathfinder?

Pathfinder Asset Management Limited is a New Zealand investment manager specialising in ethical and sustainable investing.

It uses both financial analysis and ethical screening when selecting investments, with a focus on avoiding industries and companies that do not meet its investment or ethical standards.

Pathfinder is also the issuer of the Pathfinder KiwiSaver Plan.

What can you invest in?

The Pathfinder KiwiSaver Plan currently has four funds:

• Conservative Fund
• Balanced Fund
• Growth Fund
• High Growth Fund

The Conservative, Balanced and Growth funds have been running since July 2019. The High Growth Fund launched in April 2025, so its performance history is much shorter than the other three funds.

The KiwiSaver funds invest through four underlying Pathfinder funds:

• Wholesale Ethical Trans-Tasman Fund
• Wholesale Ethical Fixed Income Fund
• Responsible Investment Fund
• Green Bond Fund

Together, these provide exposure to roughly 500 underlying investments.

Pathfinder generally hedges 100% of its overseas fixed-income exposure back to the New Zealand dollar and 50% of its other overseas investments.

Outside KiwiSaver, Pathfinder also offers six managed funds:

• Ethical Growth Fund
• Ethical Trans-Tasman Fund
• Global Property Fund
• Global Responsibility Fund
• Global Water Fund
• Green Bond Fund

The first five are also available through InvestNow. These are actively managed PIE funds.

Pathfinder managed funds generally have a $5,000 minimum initial investment, reduced to $2,500 for Pathfinder KiwiSaver members.

The Green Bond Fund invests in bonds that finance climate and environmental projects. Its underlying investments are selected by MetLife Investment Management.

Ethical screening and certification

Ethical investing is one of Pathfinder’s main points of difference.

Its Conservative, Balanced and Growth KiwiSaver funds are certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA).

All four KiwiSaver funds also currently hold Mindful Money certifications for:

• Animal Cruelty Free
• Weapons Free
• Climate Friendly

Pathfinder also says it has won Mindful Money’s Best Ethical KiwiSaver Plan award five years in a row.

Its exclusion policy applies across the KiwiSaver funds and places limits on revenue exposure to certain industries.

Current thresholds include:

• Alcohol: up to 5%
• Palm oil: up to 5%
• Genetically modified organisms: up to 5%
• Weapons production or distribution: up to 5%
• Non-weapons military goods and services: up to 50%
• Adult entertainment: up to 5%
• Tobacco-related products and services: up to 10%
• Gambling: up to 5%
• Fossil fuels: up to 5%

Pathfinder also seeks to exclude areas such as factory farming and animal testing.

However, its Ethics and Investment Committee can approve limited exceptions where it believes there is a strong justification. Pathfinder publishes these in a public Exceptions Register.

Fees

Pathfinder donates 20% of its fees to charity, and waives the KiwiSaver member fee for kids.

The bottom line

Pathfinder is an active ethical-investing specialist with a clearly documented approach to responsible investing.

Its KiwiSaver Plan has four diversified funds, while its wider managed-fund range includes specialist options covering areas such as global water, property, New Zealand and Australian shares, and green bonds.

Its KiwiSaver fees are higher than those of the cheapest passive providers, but Pathfinder’s proposition is quite different.

Investors are paying for active management, detailed ethical screening, independent certification and a strong focus on sustainable and positive-impact investing.

Pathfinder also contributes 1% of its total revenue to organisations working across social and environmental causes, while waiving its KiwiSaver member fee for younger members and smaller balances.