Frequently Asked Questions

We have a range New Zealand's top investment teams at our disposal. We call these teams "PSA Managers" (Philosophy, Style and Allocation). We use up to 7 of these in either KiwiSaver or Portfolio construction, although the norm is 6.  In KiwiSaver, members can only use one Provider, but most members don't realise they can spread their savings (using the right Provider) simultaneously across multiple managers, or expertise sources. In Fusion Investing, we do this for every member.  We allocate, equally, without bias across managers such as Milford Asset Management, Fisher Funds, Generate Wealth Management, Pathfinder Asset Management and others.  This enables us to include virtually every investments style and philosophy available.  This in turn creates reliability and reduces expertise risk to virtually zero.

No, each operates a pre-balanced fund within four profiles, Aggressive, Growth, Balanced and Conservative. Each PSA Manager is separate from the others and has their own asset allocation, currency strategy, philosophy and style. They ALL bring ALL of these to the table.  This is different from traditional strategies where (say) Manager A may be used just for international fixed interest, Manager B for local equities, and C for Australian equities.  Every PSA Manager in our Multi-Style Management (MSM) strategy works with all asset classes in their own unique style, perhaps using sub-managers for each asset class.  (PSA Manager ANZ uses Vanguard and CBRE Carlton to manage their international equities whereas Milford do it internally). We then put multiple PSA Managers side by side, simultaneously and equally, targeting the same outcome in different ways, with no reference to each other.

A few do. Multi-manager investing is a growing trend. Investors can see that "keeping all their eggs in one (manager) basket" isn't prudent, especially as KiwiSaver accounts are growing significantly and will constitute a large portion of their retirement plans. More investment advisers are showing their clients the benefits of a multi-manager strategy but we will endeavour to remain at the forefront of the strategy.

That depends on who you compare us to. Our knowledge of the portfolio investing industry suggests multi-manager is considerably cheaper, but in KiwiSaver, it may be slightly more, or slightly less. Some KiwiSaver providers market their schemes on lower fees. Multi-manager will be more expensive than these but when you compare a small increase in fees to the eliminated risk of underperformance, the fee argument becomes less important. As we're targeting the average market performance, we achieve an average fee structure.

No, but it's unlikely to underperform it either. The key is we've proven we can target industry average returns, providing you with some certainty of performance rankings. If you’re looking for a strategy which hopefully “beats” the industry, a Multi-Manager strategy isn’t for you. We believe if you target the top return, you must also risk getting the bottom return. This is an unavoidable mathematical fact. Multi-manager investing eliminates this risk.

When we are engaged by clients to do financial planning, we use prudent growth rates to project likely outcomes. The results from industry averages are significantly above the projected returns so if we can show that a client's objectives can be met with prudent investment planning, that is better than using a return that is unlikely to be sustained.

Having said that, when you also factor in typical investor performance, where investors constantly chase last years' "winners" and jump from fund to fund (usually with inferior long term results), Fusion Investing should provide long term higher returns as our investors don't behave like that. Ours is a "set and forget" strategy where fund manager changes are rare and only done through necessity. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is a major key to long term performance.

Your investor profile is the meeting point, or compromise, of your required returns, and your tolerance of the markets' ups and downs (volatility). These ups and downs are caused by fluctuations in equity (company shares) and property prices, and currency movements. Everyone wants the highest returns, but that comes with big swings in asset values which can be unnerving. At Fusion Investing, we discuss your profile with you in every case. We don't assume anything. With KiwiSaver and portfolios, we can refine that profile construction by selecting from a large range of managers and/or diluting your portfolio with some cash. The important thing is for you to be able to sleep at night without worrying about your investments.

Once you've read this website, and you like the multi-manager strategy, we set a time to discuss your situation.

If your interest is only in KiwiSaver, a ZOOM call is arranged and we will discuss your needs. Then we can send you a proposal. This is usually accompanied by a personalised video. If you would like to become a KiwiSaver client, it takes one simple form, which can be completed by email. We recommend a financial plan is written for you but that is your call.

With portfolios, the process takes a little longer as the paperwork and identification is more complex. A personal or ZOOM meeting is required and a financial plan must preempt any investments so we know everything about you. No portfolios are established without a full planning exercise undertaken. We will also use a risk-profiling exercise to ensure your portfolio is correct for your circumstances. The whole process can take weeks if necessary to ensure all is in order. We are obliged to undertake a full Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Funding (CFT) assessment of all investors too.

We take care of all the administration, ensuring the establishment process goes smoothly. Once everything is complete, we provide a starting report to show where you begin and all reports thereafter will reference that initial report to provide progress results.

At Fusion Investing we mix ethical "construction" PSA Managers, who construct their portfolios based on sustainability, ethics etc, with PSA Managers who adopt general ethical screening such as [no tobacco, land mines, pollution etc], and overlay those factors on a commercially designed portfolio. There may even be the odd manager who leaves the market to weed out unethical companies rather than trying to do it themselves. Responsible investing is becoming more prevalent in every PSA manager so we believe it won't be long before it's a design factor across the industry.

At present, the majority of our investors are directly invested with their fund managers. This has been the chosen strategy due to the fees which can be charged in wrap accounts. With our new administrator/Provider, those fees are much lower so, going forward, we will use their administration platform for portfolios, accessing the same managers and more than we could do so before.

We report every six months showing each manager's asset allocation, your overall allocation, and performance. We would be pleased to send you a sample report to ensure it's what you're looking for. Let us know if you'd like one.

Each manager charges their stated fees and these are documented in their Product Disclosure Statements. There are no establishment costs incurred with these managers.

We don't charge any fees to establish a portfolio or switch a KiwiSaver account. The administration is simply a form and proof of ID so there's little to charge for.

Monitoring and reporting
• We charge a monitoring and advisory fee of 0.25% plus GST p.a. per account, capped at $214.40 p.a. plus GST for KiwiSaver members who only want one report per year.
• We charge a monitoring and advisory fee of 0.25% plus GST p.a. per account, capped at $428.80 p.a. plus GST for KiwiSaver members who want two reports per year.
(These fees are subject to CPI rises)

This fee structure reflects our belief that you should pay for work done only, and not how much you invest. The fee is slightly higher pro-rata where the account is below $85,600 as the work is the same but the only way to charge is on a % basis. Once your account/portfolio reaches $85,600, the only increase in monitoring fee is with cpi.