Mon, 18 Jul 2011
KiwiSaver provider TOWER Investments has released its monthly analysis of the IRD’s KiwiSaver member count for the month of June, 2011.
“June saw net total KiwiSaver sign-ups break out over 1.75 million members,” said Sam Stubbs, Chief Executive Officer of KiwiSaver provider TOWER Investments.
“Against that membership milestone, growth rates for new KiwiSaver sign-ups fell in June after the government’s Budget announcements of late May,” he said.
“Anecdotal evidence indicated that public perceptions of KiwiSaver had turned somewhat negative since the Budget set out reduced government subsidies, increased taxation, and larger employer and employee contribution minimums to be phased in for the scheme over 2012-3.”
“Additionally, talk of making KiwiSaver compulsory has potentially demotivated some people from joining up voluntarily who believe they might be forced to belong later anyway.”
“June was also a rocky ride in investment markets as panic spread about whether Greece’s mounting sovereign debt problems were another global financial crisis in the making, although the level of fear fell sharply late in the month.”
“Total net monthly growth in new membership dropped from above 1.5% in May to under 1.4% in June, with opt-in via employer and opt-in via provider leading the trend down.”
“The only original KiwiSaver join method to show an increased monthly rate of sign ups was automatically enrolled by employer, which lifted from a little over 1.4% in May to not far short of 1.5% in June.”
“It’s too soon to tell whether the June downturn in new KiwiSaver sign-up rates marks a simple blip or else a significant turning point in public appetite for the scheme.”
“If June’s monthly membership grow rate continues for the rest of the year, there should be about 1.9 million KiwiSavers by the end of 2011,” he said.
For further information please contact: Sam Stubbs, CEO TOWER Investments Tel: 09 369 2284, Mobile: 021 491 547, Email: sam.stubbs@tower.co.nz
Download KiwiSaver Growth Statistics June 2011