Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
19 SEPTEMBER 2016

Kiwifund the Answer to Kiwisaver ‘Graft by Stealth’

By creaming off millions of dollars in fees and not disclosing this to their clients, KiwiSaver providers are guilty of graft by stealth, says New Zealand First Leader and Northland Member of Parliament, Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“If a supermarket checkout operator added a fee to every grocery bill without putting it on a docket or advising the customer, there’d be an uproar but these KiwiSaver providers are doing the same thing and getting away with it.

“For the year ending March 31, six KiwiSaver providers – Westpac, AMP, ANZ, Fisher Funds, Mercer and SuperLife - did not declare $148.2 million in fees they had taken from their clients in their annual members’ statements.

“This was just for that year alone.

“These six providers, as well as ASB, BNZ and Grosvenor, will pocket $22 billion in fees over the next 30 years– a sizeable chunk of which will not be disclosed to their clients.

“They’ve hit the jackpot but have kept their clients in the dark.

“There is an urgent need for New Zealand First’s KiwiFund policy (announced in 2013). It would be a state run KiwiSaver provider which would offer New Zealanders the option of a saving scheme with minimal fees and a guaranteed return of capital.

“KiwiFund would save billions of dollars for KiwiSaver contributors and capital would be used to buy back state assets, farmland and important infrastructure,” Mr Peters says.

http://nzfirst.org.nz/article/kiwifund-policy-radio-live-column

ENDS

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