Milford lifts fee income despite earning no performance fees
The Milford funds management group appears to have enjoyed a significant profit boost in the year ended March, even though it didn’t earn any performance fees.
Wednesday, July 29th 2026, 9:55AM
by Jenny Ruth
The two Milford entities required to report financial results to the Companies Office both declared profit increases well into double digits with Milford Funds’ net profit for the year rising 30.9% to $22.2 million while Milford Private Wealth lifted its net profit 27.3% to just over $3 million.
Milford Funds lifted fee revenue 31.2% to $304.6 million while fund expenses paid to the ultimate parent company, Milford Asset Management, rose at a slightly faster clip of 32.1%.
But the performance fees of zero in the latest year compare with the previous year’s $1.1 million and the 2024 financial year’s $83.5 million.
Those following Milford’s returns in the latest year won’t be surprised by that.
The Mercer Jessup Weaver survey for the March quarter showed Milford’s $455 million conservative KiwiSaver fund in the unaccustomed position of being worst performer out of 19 conservative KiwiSaver funds for the year ended March after being placed 17th out of 19 for the March quarter with a negative 1.9% return.
All returns for the March quarter had been negative, reflecting the impact of the war against Iran.
The KiwiSaver returns for Milford’s funds were positive in the June quarter but its $8.96 billion growth fund was the worst performer in the growth category in the three months with a 5% return and it ranked 12th out of 14 funds for the year with a 7.8% return. Illustrating past outperformance, the Milford fund ranked first over 10 years out of 13 funds with annual returns of 10.2%.
Milford Funds paid dividends of $15.2 million for the year, down from the $17.5 million paid the previous year, and the notes to the accounts said it declared a $200,000 dividend after balance date which was paid on or about July 8.
The company includes fees from all Milford’s wholesale and retail funds, including its KiwiSaver Plan, and it has to meet or exceed clearly established performance benchmarks before it is entitled to any performance fees.
Milford Private Wealth earned fees of $41.5 million, up 28%, while management services fees paid to the parent rose 28.3% to $34.8 million. It paid dividends of $2.1 million for the latest year, up from $1.8 million the previous year.
The private wealth company declared a further dividend of $27,000 per share after balance date which was paid on or about July 8 – it has 100 shares on issue.
The parent company has 40 shareholders – its policy is to offer shares to staff.
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