Joe Bishop, general manager customer, product and innovation, said the milestone was important because it allowed Kiwi Wealth to return scale benefits to KiwiSaver members and private portfolio clients.

“We’ve added $3b in funds under management in just three years, with excellent member inflows and consistently good performance across all of our retail funds. We’ve now achieved a level of scale and efficiency that allowed us to push ahead with work to pass savings back to those who invest with us.”

Kiwi Wealth added 14,493 members to its KiwiSaver scheme and more than $500 million in funds in the year to March 31.

Bishop said that had helped it to be able to cut fees, and he challenged others to do the same.

“We’ve done it, because we believe any provider that has the capacity to reduce fees has no reason not to. Fee structures should be assessed for every fund, every year. That’s what we’re doing to make sure our members are only charged the fairest fees for the investment expertise and services we provide.

“Many providers are only too happy to take members’ money and take the profits while doing very little to earn it,” said Bishop.

“A barebones, passive approach might sound like a good idea, but members get much more from providers that provide access to a broad service proposition that helps members take control of their KiwiSaver investments.

“That’s why we have invested in providing access to quality financial advice and developed award-winning retirement income planning tools.”