Frequently asked questions

Pathfinder is a licensed KiwiSaver Scheme regulated by the Financial Markets Authority.

When you invest your money with Pathfinder, the money is held by an independent custodian. With Pathfinder, it is Public Trust. 

If for any reason Pathfinder ran into difficulties, your investments would not be affected at all, and the Scheme’s investments would be transferred to another manager.

You can apply to IRD for a Savings Suspension after being in KiwiSaver for 12 months. Stopping contributions for a time is easy, but remember, it will reduce the amount you will have for retirement.

You can put your contributions on hold for between three months and one year if you really need to. Once your Savings Suspension has expired you can apply to IRD to have it extended.

You can still make voluntary contributions to your KiwiSaver during this period. 

Please refer to our Product Disclosure Statement or contact us. 

As long as you're a member of a complying superannuation scheme in Australia, you're able to transfer your funds into your KiwiSaver account. 

Contact us to discuss the process. We don't charge a fee for this. 

Soon, you'll be able to do that through our member portal but for now, you will need to contact the customer service team to place your request. Please provide your full name, and date of birth at the time of your email and the fund you would like to switch out of, and into. 

When you reach the KiwiSaver retirement you can:

• Withdraw all or some of your savings;
• Leave your savings invested until you want to access them;
• Set up a periodic payment. This allows you to decide how much you want to take out on a regular basis (e.g. weekly or monthly) and have it paid to a bank account

Until your KiwiSaver Account balance is paid out in full, your balance continues to be invested and you can continue to save until you advise otherwise. Be sure to review whether you are in the right investment for your risk profile.

If you would like to set up a call with one of our financial advisors to discuss retirement planning, please contact us.

Pathfinder has three funds – Conservative, Balanced and Growth. Each of these will have different returns. Which one you choose will depend on factors such as your age, your time horizon, and the purpose of the investment.

If you think you might use the Pathfinder KiwiSaver Plan to help buy your first home within the next three years, then you might find the Conservative portfolio best for your needs. Alternatively, if you have 10 or more years until retirement, and saving for your retirement is your main goal, then the Growth fund may be more suitable.

If you require further help choosing, check out www.sorted.org.nz. We also have financial advisors you can talk to; simply contact us.

You can join KiwiSaver if you’re both:

• a New Zealand citizen, or entitled to live in New Zealand indefinitely
• you live or normally live in New Zealand.

You cannot join KiwiSaver if you have a temporary, visitor, work or student visa.

There are different ways to join KiwiSaver. Depending on your situation you can enrol directly with a scheme provider. If you’re under 18, there are different rules.

To help you save, the Government will make an annual contribution into your KiwiSaver account as long as: 

- You are between the ages of 18 and 65 

- You are eligible for a KiwiSaver account and  

- you are living in New Zealand  
 
Except when: 

1. You have previously made a withdrawal under life-shortening congenital conditions; 
2. New Zealand is not your country of principle residence 

If you haven't been in KiwiSaver for 12 months, you’ll be entitled to a lower government contribution than the full amount. This is because your entitlement is based on the number of days in the year that you have been a KiwiSaver member. 

If you’re not living in New Zealand and you make contributions into your KiwiSaver account, you may still receive the GVC, however you will be unable to withdraw these funds. Any government contribution amount that is received while a KiwiSaver member is residing overseas is returned to the Government upon a withdrawal request. 

Even if you don’t live in New Zealand, you may still qualify to receive your Government Contribution if you’re in certain groups. These include a New Zealand government employee working overseas, working as a volunteer overseas or working for token payment, for certain charitable organisations, if the work you’re doing meets certain conditions. 

No KiwiSaver scheme is guaranteed by the Government or the Crown or by any other entity. Like all investments, KiwiSaver returns are likely to go up and down over time.

It is important you choose the right fund for your risk tolerance and purpose for being invested. 

Our Product Disclosure Statement outlines general investment risks, other specific risks, and a risk indicator for each Fund.

To help clarify your own attitude to risk, you should seek financial advice. 

More information relating to risk associated with the Scheme is also available within the Other Material Information document and on the offer register; business.govt.nz/disclose. 

Now that you've reached retirement age (65 years), it is your choice what you'd like to do with your funds and there are several options. 

• Contributing to your KiwiSaver account becomes completely optional, and if you want to continue you can do so.
• The compulsory employer contributions stop. However, some employers may choose to continue. You will need to discuss this with your employer.
• Your contributions continue unchanged until you change them. If you are employed, you will have to tell your employer if you want to stop contributing to KiwiSaver. Otherwise, they have to keep making deductions from your pay.
• If you are currently saving by direct debit, this will continue until you tell us to stop.
• The Government Contributions cease.

To discuss your options, feel free to contact our financial advisors who can assist you with planning.

After you have opened an account, and we have received your funds and they're invested, you will receive an email with a link to register for our member portal. If you haven't received your email or the link has expired, please contact our customer service team.

If you’re under 18 you can only join KiwiSaver through a scheme provider. You cannot join through your employer.

If you’re between 16 and 17, you need at least one legal guardian to co-sign your application. If you don’t have a legal guardian, contact your chosen KiwiSaver scheme provider.

If you’re under 16, you need the consent of all your legal guardians. You cannot enrol yourself.

Your Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR) is the tax you pay on your investment.  It's based on your total taxable income in the last two income years (1 April to 31 March), for example, income from salary, wages and any other income.

Try our PIR calculator here or visit the IRD's website for more. 

You can check your balance online by logging into our member portal.

Our online member’s portal allows you to track your balance and see the performance of your chosen Fund.

You will be sent instructions on how to access the portal once the money has been received into your account.

You may be able to withdraw all or part of your savings early if you’re buying your first home, emigrating, or suffering financial hardship or serious illness.  You can read more about this on the Government’s KiwiSaver website .

If you have switched to us from another KiwiSaver provider, it typically takes 10 working days for us to receive your funds. Once they've been received and invested, they will be visible in your member portal. 

For our managed funds, three working days for funds to be fully invested and visible to you through your portal. Please that Public Holidays and weekends can cause further delays. You will receive an email once the process has been complete. 

Under government regulations, Inland Revenue will hold your contributions for 2 months (62 days) from the date they are notified your a new KiwiSaver member. After that, your contributions are forwarded to your provider for investment. You will earn basic interest on your contributions but your funds are not invested or earning returns until they are released by the IRD.

We use a web-based Portal which operates like an App, and you can add it to your phone.

To add the Portal to your IOS device:

• Open the Safari App and go to the Portal website.
• Select the Share icon  from the bottom
• Select Add to Home Screen and add.

To add the Portal to your Android device:

• Open your Browser and go to the Portal website.
• Press the Settings button (3 vertical dots on top right of screen)
• Select Add to Home Screen and add

If you’ve been a member of KiwiSaver for three years, you may be able to withdraw some of your KiwiSaver savings to put towards purchasing your first home.

Usually, you can withdraw your contributions, your employer’s contributions, any government contributions, and all of the investment returns in your KiwiSaver account (provided you leave a minimum balance of $1,000).

If you have owned a house before, you may still qualify if the Minister of Housing considers that your financial situation, in terms of your income, assets and liabilities, is the same as what would be expected for a person who has never owned a home.

In this case, you need to get a certificate from Housing New Zealand  (now Kāinga Ora) verifying this.

You can find your IRD Number:

• in myIR or My KiwiSaver websites
• on payslips
• on letters or statements you’ve received from IRD
• on your KiwiSaver statement, if you are transferring
• on income details from your employer

Or you can phone the Inland Revenue Department on 0800 227 774, (+64 4 978 0779 if overseas) and ask, “What is my IRD number?”

What does net zero mean?

Net-zero or carbon neutrality means that an organisation claiming carbon neutrality must:

• Calculate their emissions and disclose the scope for their measurement
• Task as many actions as practicable to reduce their emissions
• Cancel or retire credible carbon units

We have chosen companies to invest in that have lower than average emissions (approximately 65% lower than the average of the MSCI ACWI index). The balance of the carbon that we are responsible as investors for emitting, is offset using carbon credits as described below.

We agree that only offsetting is not a viable response to climate change. We invest our capital in companies that are low carbon and with viable plans to reduce their emissions further. We also actively lobby companies (primarily through our membership in entities like the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia, the Investor Group on Climate Change, and by direct lobbying of companies) to responsibly improve their GHG emissions performance.

Reducing emissions vs offsetting?

Reducing emissions is critical – it is not credible to just offset while making no effort to reduce. At Pathfinder, we exclude from our portfolios many high emitting companies. For instance, we don’t invest in any companies that are involved in the exploration, extraction and distribution of fossil fuels. We also avoid heavy emitting companies like airlines. So no companies like Air New Zealand, Exxon Mobil, Z Energy, Royal Dutch Shell  - they don’t make it into our portfolios. We also don’t invest in many of the banks responsible for the largest individual financing of fossil fuel companies. For instance, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi and Bank of America account for over 30% of all fossil fuel financing since the Paris Agreement was adopted. Over the last 4 years, these four banks have collectively financed over US$811 billion of fossil fuel projects.

As a result our portfolio are much lower emissions intense than the average portfolio. The equity portfolios of the 4 funds we are offsetting are:

Our current Carbon offsetting applies to the calendar 2020. In Calendar year 2021 we will be offsetting these four funds again as required, plus the other funds that carry the Pathfinder Ethical name.

What are you doing in practical terms?

In each fund, we have invested directly in company shares. We are part owners of around 170 individual companies. As responsible owners, not only are we seeking the best returns for our investors but we are also committed to a zero-carbon future. Firstly, we are making a real effort to select companies that are actively working to reduce their own carbon emissions. Already, our KiwiSaver funds have an emissions intensity of around 65% less than the average equity fund. But we believe that is just the first step - we are also buying quality carbon credits to offset our share of the CO2 emitted by these companies.

Carbon credits explained 

There is a global market for carbon credits. These are created when a firm or community reduces their carbon emission in a measurable, and scientifically robust method. Carbon Credits are certified and measured by third party organisations. The credits we use to offset our fund emissions are certified by Verra, a global non-profit organisation that provides environmental measurement and certification services to companies and governments around the world. See here for more detail: www.verra.org

Carbon credits are created when an entity reduces CO2 emissions in a certified process consistent with an international agreement. We then buy those carbon credits, with the bulk of the sale proceeds going to the entity that created them. After we have bought the carbon credits, they are then cancelled so cannot be used again.

We are purchasing “Transformation Carbon Credits” from C-Quest Capital (CQC). These credits are created by a high integrity reduction in GHG emissions, as well the program used to create these credits has a significant positive social impact on low-income communities in seven sub-Saharan countries. CQC manages programs to improve the cooking stoves used in these countries resulting in significantly reduced carbon emission as well as transforming the lives of the poorest families in these developing countries with a particular focus on the well being of women and infants. See here for details of CQC and their Transformation Carbon Credits: www.cquestcapital.com

What is the Sub-Saharan African Cookstove Programme? 

This is a social impact program that both reduces CO2 emissions and dramatically improves the wellbeing of communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program provides two free high-efficiency cookstoves to households. These dramatically reduce fuel and emissions when compared to traditional cooking styles. Besides the reduction in CO2 emissions, the stoves have a dramatic social impact. A wider range of fuel is possible, meaning less intensive foraging by women and children. The stoves are safer too, with less burn risk, less fire risk and fewer noxious emissions that affect family health.

Communities using the cookstoves are visited at least twice a year by “cookstove champions” who verify usage and provide training and support as required. The verification process includes GPS location, scanning of barcodes with each cookstove, and photographs of each stove.

How much is Pathfinder offsetting? 

We have calculated our emissions share of the companies we are part owners of. For instance, if a company emits 100 tons of CO2 per annum, and we own 2% of that company, then we would take responsibility for 2% of that companies emissions, or 2 tons per annum. We add up our share of each companies emissions and that is the total CO2 emissions we are responsible for.

Each quarter-end, we calculate our share of emissions for that quarter and buy sufficient carbon credits to offset that amount. To be sure of getting it right, we calculate our emission share as accurately as possible and then add 20%. This should cover any inaccuracies that we cannot identify, plus go a little bit further and actually make our KiwiSaver funds carbon negative.

Each quarter, we will update the table at the end of this document which will show our tons of CO2 emitted for each of our KiwiSaver funds, and the number of carbon credits we have purchased.

Who pays?

At Pathfinder, our core values include looking after people and the planet. African Cookstove credits absolutely do both. We are purchasing these credits from Pathfinder Asset Management – there is no cost to investors in our funds. The cost is paid for by us at Pathfinder Asset Management.

What difference does it make?

Climate change is a massive global problem. On our own, we accept the argument that we are not capable of making a big impact. But its also important to do the right thing. If every fund manager in the world took an initiative like this and also lobbied companies to change their emitting behaviour, then collectively we would make a difference. We have always thought of ourselves as leaders in ethical investing, we want to set an example for other fund managers to follow. Collective effort is required.

Our share of the CO2 emitted by our companies in Calendar Year 2020:

• Ethical Growth Fund: 45
• KiwiSaver Growth Fund: 236
• KiwiSaver Balanced Fund: 62
• KiwiSaver Conservative Fund: 7
• Total: 350
• 50% margin added: 175
• Total credits purchased for cancellation: 525

Tons of CO2 emitted is measured as of 1 March 2021.

We apply a 50% loading on the tons of CO2 we have calculated to allow for any inaccuracy in our measurements.

What methodology are we using?

To calculate our share of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions emitted by the companies we invest in, we first obtain the declared emissions by those companies for the most recent financial year. A small number of companies do not report emissions, in these case we estimate the emissions of that company by reference to peer companies in the same sub-industry group. We look at each company individually and make adjustments upward if we believe that is appropriate.

Once we have determined the emissions for each company we use the methodology recommended by the Task Force on Carbon Disclosure to determine our fund share of the carbon emitted by a particular company. This is based on the proportional ownership we have in that company.

We then sum all those shares of carbon emitted across all the equities we own in each portfolio to determine our share of carbon emitted. For the 2020 calendar year, we have determined our emissions based on the average fund size of the 2020 calendar year, using the companies we own as of March 2021. We have increased this amount calculated by 50% to mitigate any inconsistencies in our calculations.

We have placed an order to buy Transformation Carbon Credits as of March 2021. These will be delivered in July 2021 and cancelled in the registry maintained by Verra when delivered. Accordingly, we are confident that we have calculated our carbon responsibility in a conservative and unbiased manner, and have contracted to purchase and cancel an appropriate number of credits (plus 50%)  under a certified process consistent with international climate change agreements.

Reference documents:

“Guidance for voluntary carbon offsetting – updated and extended until 31 December 2021” – NZ Ministry for the environment, August 2020

“Sub-Saharan Cookstove Program” – CQuestCapital, 2020

“Implementing the Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures” - Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure, 2017

“Banking on Climate Change – Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2020”

Yes. As you complete the online joining form, you will be asked for supporting documentation proving your relationship and additional information for guardians.  

That is entirely up to you, and you should consider your overall personal circumstances when you make this decision. It is important to remember that the goal of KiwiSaver is to provide retirement savings for you. The money you contribute will generally not be available to you until you reach age 65. However, there are specific circumstances in which you can access your savings early.

If you are employed, you must contribute a minimum of 3% of your gross salary or wage. You can choose to increase the 3% to 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%, and to reduce it back to 3% whenever you choose.

Employees can also make extra contributions directly to their KiwiSaver account. There are no restrictions on this. If you are not an employee, there is no minimum. You can choose not to contribute in the first year.

The fastest way to make contributions to your account is via direct debits and automatic payments. 

To set up a direct debit, please see our Document and Forms section and downloaded the debit. Or set up auto payments using the details below. 

If you are 18 or older, contributing at least $1,042.86 a year (i.e. $87 a month), you will be eligible for the maximum Government contribution of $521 a year. You will need to be in KiwiSaver for a full year before you are eligible for the maximum amount, otherwise, your contribution level will be prorated. 

 If you are eligible for a first home withdrawal you may be eligible for the extra HomeStart Grant. The HomeStart Grant is separate from the first home withdrawal payment. It is managed by  Kāinga Ora, not your KiwiSaver provider. 

To view a comprehensive eligibility checklist, visit Kāinga Ora New Zealand’s website.

Regular savings / contributions

• You can invest by making regular payments, and change (or stop) the amount you save, at any time. You can do this via online banking using the information below. 

Lump-sum payment

• You can make a lump sum payment into your account at any time using internet banking or Direct Debit.

Internet banking

• Account Name: Pathfinder KiwiSaver Applications
• Account Number: 01-1839-0934700-00
• Particulars: your IRD Number
• Code: your Unique Investor Number: ESGxxxxx
• Reference: your Surname 

Your investment is valued by the number of units in the fund you own and their respective price.

The price is influenced by market movements, the value of the underlying assets, and other factors including interest rates, currency prices and inflows into our funds.

Unit pricing is calculated on working days only, not weekends or public holidays. It is reflected on our website and member portal 2-3 working days later.

We charge a membership fee of $2.25 per month, plus each fund has an annual Management Fee (Conservative Fund 0.84%, Balanced Fund 1.14%, Growth Fund 1.29%). 

We do not charge the annual membership fee on kids accounts and balances of less than $1,000. 

For more, see KiwiSaver fees explained here. 

To help you save, the Government will make an annual contribution into your account as long as you're over the age of 18, and are living in New Zealand. 

The math is simple: for every dollar you put into KiwiSaver, the government contributes 50 cents, up to a maximum of $521.43.

To receive the maximum Government Contribution (GC), you must have paid at least $1,042.86 (that’s just over $20 a week) into your KiwiSaver account between July 1st and June 30th the following year and have been in KiwiSaver for that period of time.

If you haven't been in KiwiSaver for 12 months, you'll receive partial contributions. 

Note that your employer contributions don’t count, it is what you have paid that matters.

If you contribute less than $1,042.86 from your pay, you can make a voluntary contribution to top up your account, so that you do qualify for the Government contribution.

There are some circumstances that might affect your Government contribution. For a full description of the rules please refer to the Government’s KiwiSaver website.

If you are moving to Australia, you are not allowed to withdraw your KiwiSaver funds. You can either leave your funds in place or transfer them to a complying superannuation scheme in Australia.

For those permanently emigrating to other countries, you must wait one year to withdraw your funds. You will be required to provide documentary evidence of such a move including airline tickets, proof of employment and proof of address in the country you’ve moved to. To read more about the conditions and obligations for early withdrawal under a permanent overseas move application, please refer to the Government’s KiwiSaver website on Moving Overseas.

You may be able to make a withdrawal if you are suffering, or likely to suffer, from significant financial hardship.

Significant financial hardship includes difficulties arising because of:

• your inability to meet minimum living expenses; or
• your inability to meet mortgage repayments on your principal family residence, resulting in the mortgagee seeking to enforce the mortgage; or
• the cost of modifying a residence to meet special needs arising from your own or a dependant’s disability; or
• the cost of medical treatment for your own or a dependant’s illness or injury; or
• the cost of palliative care for you or a dependant; or
• funeral costs for a dependant.

To read more on financial hardship claims, please refer to the Government’s KiwiSaver website section on Financial Hardship.

From the time your money is received, (not the day it is sent), and depending on the time of day it is received, it typically takes two full working days to price and invest. The total duration therefore can take 4-5 working days. 

As an example, if you make a deposit on a Monday, and it is not received until Wednesday, you could expect to see it in your member portal by Friday or possibly on Monday. 

If you made a deposit on a Friday, and it is not received until Monday or Tuesday, it may not appear in your member portal until Thursday because of the weekend.

When you join Pathfinder's KiwiSaver Plan you will be able to select one of our charity partners. At the end of every year, we take 20% of our Management Fee and donate this to the charity you’ve selected. If you decide you want to support a different charity, just let our team know and we'll change it.

We occasionally do one-off campaigns for charities upon consideration. Contact us to express your interest.

Yes. To switch charity partners, please email us at info@path.co.nz with your ESG number (if you have it), full name and email address that's associated with your KiwiSaver. Let us know which charity you'd like to switch to and we'll get it sorted for you!

If you're a KiwiSaver member making contributuins from your pay, your employer also has to put money in. This is equal to 3% of your pay. 

You can choose to contribute more than 3%, and the current options are 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% of your wages.

ESG investing uses Environmental, Social and Governance factors when making investment decisions. It is a generic term used in capital markets and used by investors to evaluate corporate behaviour and to determine the future financial performance of companies.

How do you include/exclude companies?

Incorporating ESG factors into investing requires a significant amount of very specialised research. We work with Sustainalytics, a global leader in ESG and corporate governance research and ratings. Examples of ESG factors for a company include reviewing workplace accidents, environmental incidents, governance effectiveness, tax transparency and product safety. Based on the overall "score", we determine whether to include or exclude a company from our Funds.

See our Ethical Comparison tool for more information.

If you have an illness, injury or disability that permanently affects your ability to work, or poses a risk of death, you may be eligible to withdraw your KiwiSaver funds early. You can withdraw the total funds in your account including:

• Your contributions
• Your employer’s contributions
• The $1,000 kickstart if you received this
• Any member tax credits

In the first three months of membership, please contact Inland Revenue. After the first three months, apply through CareSaver.

To read more on serious illness claims, please refer to the Government’s KiwiSaver website section on Serious Illness.

If you would like help with your application please contact us. 

If you are moving to Australia, you are not allowed to withdraw your KiwiSaver funds. You can either leave your funds in place or transfer them to a complying superannuation scheme in Australia.

For those permanently emigrating to other countries, you must wait one year to withdraw your funds. You will be required to provide documentary evidence of such a move including airline tickets, proof of employment and proof of address in the country you’ve moved to. To read more about the conditions and obligations for early withdrawal under a permanent overseas move application, please refer to the Government’s KiwiSaver website on Moving Overseas.

Our Managed Funds have buy/sell spreads which are explained below:

When you subscribe for units in a Fund (including when you switch between Funds) the buy spread is added to the unit price and will be a cost to you. When you redeem units in a Fund (including when you switch between Funds) the sell spread is deducted from the unit price and will be a cost to you.

• Global Responsibillity Fund: 0.05% (buy) 0.05% (sell)
• Global Water Fund: 0.05% (buy) 0.05% (sell) 
• Global Property Fund: 0.05% (buy) 0.05% (sell)
• Ethical Trans-Tasman Fund: 0.15% (buy) 0.15% (sell) 
• Ethical Growth Fund: 0.05% (buy) 0.05% (sell) 

 Why we have buy/sell spreads:

The buy spread and sell spread belongs to the Fund and are intended to cover transaction costs in relation to the units issued or redeemed. These amounts are not paid to us. We may change the buy spread and/or the sell spread at any time if transaction costs change. 

There are no other individual action fees currently being charged to any of the Funds.

There is no GST on the buy spread or sell spread. As an example, if you invested $1,000 into the Global Water Fund, the buy spread would cost you 50 cents.

If you have an illness, injury or disability that permanently affects your ability to work, or poses a risk of death, you may be eligible to withdraw your KiwiSaver funds early. You can withdraw the total funds in your account including:

• Your contributions
• Your employer’s contributions
• The $1,000 kickstart if you received this
• Any member tax credits

In the first three months of membership, please contact Inland Revenue. After the first three months, apply through CareSaver.

To read more on serious illness claims, please refer to the Government’s KiwiSaver website section on Serious Illness.

If you would like help with your application please contact us. 

The cost to redeem your investment fund varies between 0.05% and 0.15% depending on which fund. There are no other withdrawal costs. See our FAQ on Buy/Sell spreads.

When you reach the retirement age (65 years) you can:

• Withdraw all or some of your savings;
• Leave your savings invested until you want to access them;
• Set up a periodic payment. This allows you to decide how much you want to take out on a regular basis (e.g. weekly or monthly) and have it paid to a bank account

Until your KiwiSaver Account balance is paid out in full, your balance continues to be invested and you can continue to save until you advise otherwise. Be sure to review whether you are in the right investment for your risk profile.

If you would like to set up a call with one of our financial advisors to discuss retirement planning, please contact us.

Now that you've reached retirement age (65 years), it is your choice what you'd like to do with your funds and there are several options. 

• Contributing to your KiwiSaver account becomes completely optional, and if you want to continue you can do so.
• The compulsory employer contributions stop. However, some employers may choose to continue. You will need to discuss this with your employer.
• Your contributions continue unchanged until you change them. If you are employed, you will have to tell your employer if you want to stop contributing to KiwiSaver. Otherwise, they have to keep making deductions from your pay.
• If you are currently saving by direct debit, this will continue until you tell us to stop.
• The Government Contributions cease.

To discuss your options, feel free to contact our financial advisors who can assist you with planning.

You can apply to IRD for a Savings Suspension after being in KiwiSaver for 12 months. Stopping contributions for a time is easy, but remember, it will reduce the amount you will have for retirement.

You can put your contributions on hold for between three months and one year if you really need to. Once your Savings Suspension has expired you can apply to IRD to have it extended.

You can still make voluntary contributions to your KiwiSaver during this period. 

To help you save, the Government will make an annual contribution into your KiwiSaver account as long as: 

- You are between the ages of 18 and 65 

- You are eligible for a KiwiSaver account and  

- you are living in New Zealand  
 
Except when: 

1. You have previously made a withdrawal under life-shortening congenital conditions; 
2. New Zealand is not your country of principle residence 

If you haven't been in KiwiSaver for 12 months, you’ll be entitled to a lower government contribution than the full amount. This is because your entitlement is based on the number of days in the year that you have been a KiwiSaver member. 

If you’re not living in New Zealand and you make contributions into your KiwiSaver account, you may still receive the GVC, however you will be unable to withdraw these funds. Any government contribution amount that is received while a KiwiSaver member is residing overseas is returned to the Government upon a withdrawal request. 

Even if you don’t live in New Zealand, you may still qualify to receive your Government Contribution if you’re in certain groups. These include a New Zealand government employee working overseas, working as a volunteer overseas or working for token payment, for certain charitable organisations, if the work you’re doing meets certain conditions. 

Regular savings / contributions

• You can invest by making regular payments, and change (or stop) the amount you save, at any time. You can do this via online banking using the information below. 

Lump-sum payment

• You can make a lump sum payment into your account at any time using internet banking or Direct Debit.

Internet banking

• Account Name: Pathfinder KiwiSaver Applications
• Account Number: 01-1839-0934700-00
• Particulars: your IRD Number
• Code: your Unique Investor Number: ESGxxxxx
• Reference: your Surname 

Now that you've reached retirement age (65 years), it is your choice what you'd like to do with your funds and there are several options. 

• Contributing to your KiwiSaver account becomes completely optional, and if you want to continue you can do so.
• The compulsory employer contributions stop. However, some employers may choose to continue. You will need to discuss this with your employer.
• Your contributions continue unchanged until you change them. If you are employed, you will have to tell your employer if you want to stop contributing to KiwiSaver. Otherwise, they have to keep making deductions from your pay.
• If you are currently saving by direct debit, this will continue until you tell us to stop.
• The Government Contributions cease.

To discuss your options, feel free to contact our financial advisors who can assist you with planning.

That is entirely up to you, and you should consider your overall personal circumstances when you make this decision. It is important to remember that the goal of KiwiSaver is to provide retirement savings for you. The money you contribute will generally not be available to you until you reach age 65. However, there are specific circumstances in which you can access your savings early.

If you are employed, you must contribute a minimum of 3% of your gross salary or wage. You can choose to increase the 3% to 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%, and to reduce it back to 3% whenever you choose.

Employees can also make extra contributions directly to their KiwiSaver account. There are no restrictions on this. If you are not an employee, there is no minimum. You can choose not to contribute in the first year.

The fastest way to make contributions to your account is via direct debits and automatic payments. 

To set up a direct debit, please see our Document and Forms section and downloaded the debit. Or set up auto payments using the details below. 

If you are 18 or older, contributing at least $1,042.86 a year (i.e. $87 a month), you will be eligible for the maximum Government contribution of $521 a year. You will need to be in KiwiSaver for a full year before you are eligible for the maximum amount, otherwise, your contribution level will be prorated. 

To help you save, the Government will make an annual contribution into your account as long as you're over the age of 18, and are living in New Zealand. 

The math is simple: for every dollar you put into KiwiSaver, the government contributes 50 cents, up to a maximum of $521.43.

To receive the maximum Government Contribution (GC), you must have paid at least $1,042.86 (that’s just over $20 a week) into your KiwiSaver account between July 1st and June 30th the following year and have been in KiwiSaver for that period of time.

If you haven't been in KiwiSaver for 12 months, you'll receive partial contributions. 

Note that your employer contributions don’t count, it is what you have paid that matters.

If you contribute less than $1,042.86 from your pay, you can make a voluntary contribution to top up your account, so that you do qualify for the Government contribution.

There are some circumstances that might affect your Government contribution. For a full description of the rules please refer to the Government’s KiwiSaver website.

If you're a KiwiSaver member making contributuins from your pay, your employer also has to put money in. This is equal to 3% of your pay. 

You can choose to contribute more than 3%, and the current options are 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% of your wages.

Use the joining form on the website for managed funds. Even though you already have a KiwiSaver account with us, there are different regulations around managed funds and we require slightly different information from you.

It takes a few minutes to complete the form and a few working days for us to run our compliance checks and set up the account.

You will receive an email notification with payment instructions when your account is ready. 

Our Pathfinder managed funds are open to both New Zealand residents and non-residents, trusts and children.

Our digital form will guide you through the requirements. Please read through carefully and supplied the requested documentation. 

From the time your money is received, (not the day it is sent), and depending on the time of day it is received, it typically takes two full working days to price and invest. The total duration therefore can take 4-5 working days. 

As an example, if you make a deposit on a Monday, and it is not received until Wednesday, you could expect to see it in your member portal by Friday or possibly on Monday. 

If you made a deposit on a Friday, and it is not received until Monday or Tuesday, it may not appear in your member portal until Thursday because of the weekend.

Yes. As you complete the online joining form, you will be asked for supporting documentation proving your relationship and additional information for guardians.  

Please refer to our Product Disclosure Statement or contact us. 

After you have opened an account, and we have received your funds and they're invested, you will receive an email with a link to register for our member portal. If you haven't received your email or the link has expired, please contact our customer service team.

The cost to redeem your investment fund varies between 0.05% and 0.15% depending on which fund. There are no other withdrawal costs. See our FAQ on Buy/Sell spreads.

If you have switched to us from another KiwiSaver provider, it typically takes 10 working days for us to receive your funds. Once they've been received and invested, they will be visible in your member portal. 

For our managed funds, three working days for funds to be fully invested and visible to you through your portal. Please that Public Holidays and weekends can cause further delays. You will receive an email once the process has been complete. 

You do not have to be a New Zealand citizen or resident to open a Pathfinder Investment Fund account.

You will need to provide proof of identity (ie a certified copy of a passport or government ID) and proof of address as part of our requirement under Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing. 

Please follow the digital online joining form at path.co.nz

Your investment is valued by the number of units in the fund you own and their respective price.

The price is influenced by market movements, the value of the underlying assets, and other factors including interest rates, currency prices and inflows into our funds.

Unit pricing is calculated on working days only, not weekends or public holidays. It is reflected on our website and member portal 2-3 working days later.

Estimated annual fund fees (exclusive of GST, if any) are set out below. Our management fee and external costs are calculated as a percentage of the net asset value of each Fund:

• Global Responsibility Fund: 0.93%
• Global Water Fund: 1.3%
• Global Property Fund: 1.0%
• Ethical Trans-Tasman Fund: 1.0%
• Ethical Growth Fund: 1.26%

¹ Actual annual fund charges will depend on the expenses incurred by the Fund and will vary from the estimate.  Actual fund charges are available in the latest fund updates.

Fees will be deducted from your investment and are explained below:

• Our management fee: This is paid to us for the investment management and operation of the Fund.  This covers costs of Pathfinder, the Supervisor, custodian and administration manager.
• External costs: This is an estimate of charges we may incur for investing in other funds. In the case of the Global Responsibility Fund, the other fund is our wholesale Responsible Investment Fund.
• GST: All fees are exclusive of GST (which is not currently charged on our management fees).
• Additional charges: The Supervisor is entitled to charge “special” fees to a Fund for services of an unusual or onerous nature outside its regular services.  While there is no limit on these charges, none have ever been charged to a Fund.
• Performance fee: We do not charge performance fees.
• Other charges: none.
• Buy/Sell fees: (See FAQ on Buy/Sell rates) 

Our Managed Funds have buy/sell spreads which are explained below:

When you subscribe for units in a Fund (including when you switch between Funds) the buy spread is added to the unit price and will be a cost to you. When you redeem units in a Fund (including when you switch between Funds) the sell spread is deducted from the unit price and will be a cost to you.

• Global Responsibillity Fund: 0.05% (buy) 0.05% (sell)
• Global Water Fund: 0.05% (buy) 0.05% (sell) 
• Global Property Fund: 0.05% (buy) 0.05% (sell)
• Ethical Trans-Tasman Fund: 0.15% (buy) 0.15% (sell) 
• Ethical Growth Fund: 0.05% (buy) 0.05% (sell) 

 Why we have buy/sell spreads:

The buy spread and sell spread belongs to the Fund and are intended to cover transaction costs in relation to the units issued or redeemed. These amounts are not paid to us. We may change the buy spread and/or the sell spread at any time if transaction costs change. 

There are no other individual action fees currently being charged to any of the Funds.

There is no GST on the buy spread or sell spread. As an example, if you invested $1,000 into the Global Water Fund, the buy spread would cost you 50 cents.

You can find your IRD Number:

• in myIR or My KiwiSaver websites
• on payslips
• on letters or statements you’ve received from IRD
• on your KiwiSaver statement, if you are transferring
• on income details from your employer

Or you can phone the Inland Revenue Department on 0800 227 774, (+64 4 978 0779 if overseas) and ask, “What is my IRD number?”

Please pay into the following account using the references below. Be sure to note the correct code in the payment details to us. 

There is a minimum initial deposit of $5,000 but no minimum regular contribution required after that. It is up to you. 

• Account Name: Pathfinder Account
• Account Number: 03-0566-0224417-000
• ​Particulars: Your Member Number PAMxxx
• Code: see below for your Fund code
• Reference: Your Surname

Fund codes

• Pathfinder Global Water Fund: PGWF

• Pathfinder Global Responsibility Fund: PGRF

• Pathfinder Global Property Fund: PGPF

• Pathfinder Ethical Trans-Tasman Fund: PETTF

• Pathfinder Ethical Growth Fund: PEGF

• Pathfinder Green Bond Fund: PGBF

Please note that from the time your funds are received, it takes 2-3 working days to price and invest. The entire process therefore can take 4-5 working days depending on bank processing times. ​

Should you need help, please contact our friendly Customer Service team.

You can check your balance online by logging into our member portal.

Our online member’s portal allows you to track your balance and see the performance of your chosen Fund.

You will be sent instructions on how to access the portal once the money has been received into your account.

There is a minimum investment amount of $5,000 for the initial investment.  Once your account is set up, you're welcome to make regular or one-off payments at any time. Please use our online banking instructions. 

We use a web-based Portal which operates like an App, and you can add it to your phone.

To add the Portal to your IOS device:

• Open the Safari App and go to the Portal website.
• Select the Share icon  from the bottom
• Select Add to Home Screen and add.

To add the Portal to your Android device:

• Open your Browser and go to the Portal website.
• Press the Settings button (3 vertical dots on top right of screen)
• Select Add to Home Screen and add

Yes, you can place your investment over multiple funds and create your own particular investment portfolio. Minimum initial investment is $5,000 total. Instructions on how to invest in any of our Funds will be sent to you once your account is setup. You can also make additional investment in other funds at any time using the same instructions.

ESG investing uses Environmental, Social and Governance factors when making investment decisions. It is a generic term used in capital markets and used by investors to evaluate corporate behaviour and to determine the future financial performance of companies.

How do you include/exclude companies?

Incorporating ESG factors into investing requires a significant amount of very specialised research. We work with Sustainalytics, a global leader in ESG and corporate governance research and ratings. Examples of ESG factors for a company include reviewing workplace accidents, environmental incidents, governance effectiveness, tax transparency and product safety. Based on the overall "score", we determine whether to include or exclude a company from our Funds.

See our Ethical Comparison tool for more information.