Speaking in the wake of the Saving Working Group's recommendations for encouraging greater saving among New Zealanders, Stubbs said he thought it was unlikely the current system of six default schemes would be changed.

The report recommended the creation of a single fund to reduce costs, fees and expenses in an effort to boost investment returns.

 "I don't think the Government is going to be interested in nationalising one of the most successful public/private partnerships in New Zealand," he said.

"Why would the Government want to change it?"

Stubbs was also adamant that in its current incarnation, the funds were already low cost and offered excellent value.

"Default schemes are already the lowest cost saving schemes in the industry by far, not a little bit."

He also said a lower cost scheme, achieved through indexing, would provide lower investment returns over time and that the SWG, "forgot to mention how much lower returns people will get - this is not theory, this is fact."

Another area where Stubbs disagreed with the SWG was their recommendation against KiwiSaver compulsion.

Stubbs believes the arguments for compulsion mean "it's not a matter of if but when," with the most telling argument being, "the people who need KiwiSaver the most are not involved."

There are some aspects of the report Stubbs was positive on.

He backs the calls for increasing the default rates of contribution and for the development of an annuities market, a recommendation he said recognised the need to be "thinking about the whole lifecycle of savings."

However, he acknowledged the difficulty in pricing annuities and said they work best when people are compelled to have them, citing the UK example.

Not only does that provide the scale necessary but it helps ensure the viability of the annuity providers - essential if people are to have the confidence to invest their retirement savings.

He also said the existence of just one default scheme would prove a disincentive to providers from entering an annuities market.

However, with the creation of an annuities market also a potential boon for fund managers, he said the issues were by no means insurmountable as, "the market is going to be very good at providing these solutions."