KiwiSaver growth funds - which have the greatest exposure to shares and property - performed best with a median return of 3.7% for the quarter ended December 31. The best performing fund for the quarter was the AMP Aggressive Growth Fund, with a 6.3% return.

By comparison, the more conservative default fund, had a median return of 0.9%.

Positive returns across the board were enjoyed by all KiwiSavers over last year.

For the whole of 2010, growth funds and balanced funds performed best with median returns of 7.1%, while conservative funds had 6.1% and default funds 5.9%.

At the start of 2010, an investment of $100 in the median default fund would be nearly $106, Conservative fund $106, Balanced and Growth funds $107, excluding the impact of any employer or government contributions.

Among the top performing Growth funds the Fisher Funds Growth Fund was the best performer, up 12.1% in the 12 months to December 2010.

Over the year the best performing fund in the Default sector was the Mercer Conservative (6.2%), the best performing Conservative fund was the Aon Russell Lifepoints 2015 (10%) and the best performing Balanced fund was the Aon Russell Balanced (10.4%).

However, since the scheme’s launch in 2007 funds with the highest allocation to bonds and cash remain the best performers, reflecting volatile sharemarket performance over that period.