Fisher Funds lands Huljich KiwiSaver

Thursday 31st March 2011 3 Comments

Fisher Funds has announced plans to acquire the Huljich KiwiSaver business, a deal which will make it one of the largest New Zealand-owned non-default schemes in the country.

Fisher Funds managing director Carmel Fisher said, "We are delighted to have the opportunity to welcome members of the Huljich KiwiSaver scheme into our own. Our two schemes have similar goals and both organisations have a shared passion for KiwiSaver and a desire to give members the best possible service and communication."

The combined schemes will have more than 100,000 members and $400 million in assets.

"We will be working with the Huljich team to ensure a seamless transition and there will be no interruption for either Huljich or Fisher Funds members as we complete this exciting transaction," Fisher said.

The Huljich KiwiSaver has been one of the sector's fastest-growing schemes, but faced controversy recently when former managing director Peter Huljich admitted transactions that artificially inflated performance figures.

Huljich Wealth Management chairman John Banks said the choice of Fisher Funds was easy given their shared focus on best practice and customer service.

"We are very proud of what we have achieved in the development of Huljich KiwiSaver over the past three years. We have attracted a significant number of members and they have remained loyal to our scheme because of the service we have provided. Fisher Funds has also been successful in this regard," he said.

"It is also pleasing our members will remain with another New Zealand owned independent KiwiSaver provider, a key point of difference in the KiwiSaver industry."

He said Huljich decided to move on from KiwiSaver, recognising that "increasing compliance costs and regulation will change the KiwiSaver landscape in future years."

The transaction, which will see all duly notified members of the Huljich KiwiSaver scheme transferred into the Fisher Funds scheme, remains subject to approval from the Government Actuary.

A letter regarding the proposed transfer, and the Fisher Funds KiwiSaver scheme investment statement, will be sent to all Huljich KiwiSaver scheme members in early April and Fisher Funds said it hoped to complete the transfer in May 2011.

Comments from our readers

On 1 April 2011 at 8:12 am Gerard Cornes said:

See Fisher Funds is getting bigger....

On 18 April 2011 at 12:17 am patrick diack said:

fisher funds don't know what they are in for, that is dealing with the lower end of the market, they are a nightmare.

On 9 June 2011 at 11:42 pm patrick diack said:

i liked Huljich was able to transfer 1000 (estimate) of them to another provider by offering $10.00 cash in the hand.