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Simplicity KiwiSaver Review (2026)
Simplicity is New Zealand's non-profit KiwiSaver scheme and fund manager, running low-cost index funds and donating 15% of fees to charity.
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Brent Coleman
What is Simplicity?
Simplicity is New Zealand's non-profit fund manager and KiwiSaver scheme, launched in September 2016 "around a kitchen table," per its own framing. It is built around low fees and simple global index investing, and donates 15% of its fees to the Simplicity Foundation charity, having given more than $14 million to the Foundation to date. Simplicity is frequently cited as Kernel's closest rival on fees, and is a confirmed government-appointed default KiwiSaver provider, meaning IRD can automatically enrol members into its Default Fund.
On 28 April 2023, Simplicity switched its international share and bond manager from Vanguard to DWS International GmbH, a change that applies scheme-wide across both its KiwiSaver and Investment Funds ranges.
What can you invest in?
Simplicity runs two parallel product lines investing in the same underlying strategies at the same fees, via separate legal fund vehicles:
- Simplicity KiwiSaver Scheme: 6 funds: High Growth, Growth, Balanced, Default, Conservative, Defensive.
- Simplicity Investment Funds (non-KiwiSaver): 11 funds: the same 4 diversified funds (High Growth, Growth, Balanced, Conservative, with no Default/Defensive equivalent), the Homes and Income Fund, and 6 single-sector funds (NZ Share, NZ Bond, NZ Cash, Hedged Global Share, Unhedged Global Share, Hedged Global Bond).
Matching diversified fund pairs (for example KiwiSaver Growth and Investment Growth) share an identical target asset allocation and fee, but are separately unitised funds with different sizes and marginally different performance. The Homes and Income Fund (Investment Funds only) invests up to 25% in Simplicity Living, an unlisted build-to-rent property company, plus community housing bonds and first-home mortgages, and is risk-rated 3 out of 7.
KiwiSaver Scheme fund detail (fees, market average comparator, and fund size as at 30 June 2026). All diversified fund fees below drop from 0.24% to 0.23% p.a. from 1 October 2026:
| Fund | Fee | Market avg | Fund size | Growth/Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Growth | 0.24% | 0.85% | $1.91bn | 98% / 2% |
| Growth | 0.24% | 1.07% | $3.11bn | 80% / 20% |
| Balanced | 0.24% | 0.91% | $884.4M | 59% / 41% |
| Default | 0.24% | 0.91% | $728.9M | 59% / 41% |
| Conservative | 0.24% | 0.86% | $207.0M | 20% / 80% |
| Defensive | 0.24% | 0.57% | $94.3M | 5% / 95% |
Market average comparator fees are Simplicity's own citation of Sorted Smart Investor data (as at 29 May 2026), based on a $30,000 balance in a fund with similar allocation. The High Growth Fund invests across 900+ holdings in 20+ countries, weighted roughly 73% international shares, 15% NZ shares and 10% unlisted property. The Hedged and Unhedged Global Share Funds are the two largest single funds in the entire range, at $3.16bn and $3.21bn respectively, each holding over 800 investments in 20+ countries.
Simplicity waives the KiwiSaver member fee for kids, one of the few providers in the market to do so.
Fees
Simplicity's fee has been cut eight times since 2018. The latest cut was announced on 31 August 2026, to mark the scheme's 10th anniversary: the fee on all diversified KiwiSaver and Investment Funds drops from 0.24% p.a. to 0.23% p.a. from 1 October 2026, a 4.2% reduction. Simplicity's Chief Economist Shamubeel Eaqub has published research finding that, across KiwiSaver funds over the past decade, higher fees did not on average deliver higher after-fee returns.
| Item | Fee (until 30 Sep 2026) | Fee (from 1 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| All diversified funds (KiwiSaver Scheme and Investment Funds) | 0.24% p.a. | 0.23% p.a. |
| Hedged/Unhedged Global Share, Hedged Global Bond Funds | 0.15% p.a. | 0.15% p.a. (unchanged) |
| NZ Cash, NZ Share, NZ Bond Funds | 0.10% p.a. | 0.10% p.a. (unchanged) |
| Membership/account fee | $0 | $0 |
Ownership
Simplicity is structured as a non-profit, donating 15% of its fees to the Simplicity Foundation. It is also a government-appointed default KiwiSaver provider.
Scale and history
Simplicity launched in September 2016. It states it now has more than 200,000 members and over $12 billion invested. Combined assets under management across its 17 individual funds are separately estimated at approximately $19.8 billion (roughly $6.94bn in KiwiSaver funds and $12.9bn in Investment Funds, based on individual fund sizes as at 30 June 2026) — the gap between these two figures likely reflects a different measurement basis rather than a change in scale.
The bottom line
Simplicity's core pitch (a flat, low fee across a broad range of index and diversified funds, no membership fee, and a non-profit structure that funnels a share of revenue to charity) has held up under a repeated pattern of fee cuts since 2018, the latest taking its diversified fund fee to 0.23% p.a. from October 2026. Its Morningstar-corroborated fee and mid-to-top-half category performance make it a straightforward low-cost option for KiwiSaver members who don't need an actively managed fund.