KiwiSaver growth rates continue overall decline

KiwiSaver membership growth rates continue overall decline

Default KiwiSaver provider TOWER Investments has released its monthly analysis of the IRD’s net total KiwiSaver member count for the month of October, 2010.

“Net total KiwiSaver membership as recorded by the IRD grew by nearly 23,000 to exceed 1.56 million over October,” said Sam Stubbs, Chief Executive Officer of TOWER Investments.

“Notable, however, was continued extension of the slowing overall trend in monthly membership growth rates,” he said.

“Net total membership monthly growth slipped below 2% in July this year and by October 31 had fallen to 1.5%,” he said.

“Opt-in in via provider (active choice) membership monthly growth rates contributed significantly to this decline in overall membership growth by dropping below 3% in April and sliding further since to end at 1.6% last month,” he said.

“Automatically enrolled (default) monthly membership growth dipped beneath 2% in May and kept weakening sharply thereafter until a small pick-up starting in September to end October at 1.6%, perhaps reflecting return of modest growth in employment,” he said.

“Bearing out the relationship between gradual restoration of job growth in the labour market and rates of KiwiSaver enrolment via the workplace, opt-in via employer recovered over the September and October months to record a monthly growth rate of 0.9%,” he said.

ENDS

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