Murray Harris
by Daniel Smith
Murray Harris
In spite of the incoming KiwiSaver default fund changes from July 2021, Milford Asset Management’s head of KiwiSaver, Murray Harris believes that more than 300,000 New Zealanders could be in the wrong type of KiwiSaver fund – and that staying put could significantly affect the amount of money available to them when they retire.
To combat this, Milford have announced the release of a new personalised, goals-based digital financial advice service for its KiwiSaver members.
It’s available at no extra cost and it helps investors decide what fund they should choose, based on their tolerance for risk, their investment timeframe, and their KiwiSaver goals.
Harris told Good Returns that for many advisers this offering will be another addition to the toolbox.
"I think that a lot of advisers are already using similar tools. They will either have a risk profiling tool that they will be using or the providers they are a part of will."
Alongside its digital advice platform, Milford are also introducing a "Forecast My Balance" tool, which allows members to see what their KiwiSaver account could grow to by age 65 and make sure they are on track to achieve their goals.
Harris also said that in the near future Milford will have a "Spend My KiwiSaver" tool for its members who have reached 65. This tool will provide an estimate of how much the member can spend each year until their age of life expectancy.
The tools are meant to supplement, rather than replace the human adviser, says Harris.
"I think the tools are valid for advisers who may well want to use technology as an efficient way to help their clients. I think more and more advisers are going to be utilising these kinds of digital tools.
"Particularly for smaller advice providers, one or two-man bands that are not a part of a national dealer group and so may not already have access to these technologies. These sorts of tools could be really useful to them to do some risk profiling and help their clients make the right investment decisions."
For Milford, KiwiSaver is just the beginning in terms of digital advice.
"We think access to advice is really important. Whether that is via a human adviser, a digital adviser, or a range of tools. We are looking at how we can develop these tools for advisers of the future.
"This is wider than just KiwiSaver. We think it is important that both advisers and members can utilise these tools for investments other than KiwiSaver."
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