Big Changes Coming to the Kōura Portfolios
Table of Contents
Big Changes Coming to the Kōura Portfolios
28 Oct 2025
Kōura is evolving. We’re simplifying our portfolios and accelerating the Strategic High Growth Fund to give investors smarter, more flexible options.
We’re excited to announce some important updates to the Kōura portfolios that will be rolling out shortly. These changes mark a big step forward in how we help our members invest and grow their KiwiSaver investment.
Updates to the Digital Advice Tool
We’re enhancing the portfolios recommended by our Guided Choice tool by including the Kōura Strategic High Growth Fund in our core recommendations: 30% of the “Growth Allocation” will now be invested in the Strategic High Growth Fund, and the remaining 70% will continue to be invested in our existing core funds.
This update gives investors who use our digital advice tool a little more exposure to active management, while maintaining the same diversified and disciplined approach we’re known for.
Updates to the Kōura Strategies
We’re also updating our traditional Kōura Strategies — Growth, Balanced, and Conservative — to use this fund rather than our previous geographic based funds. For example - the Growth Strategy will now include 16% Fixed Income and 84% Strategic High Growth Fund.
Our Aggressive strategy will be replaced with the Strategic High Growth Fund as it is in essence an Aggressive Fund (95% growth assets and 5% income assets).
Your Questions answered
1. What is the Strategic High Growth Fund?
The Kōura Strategic High Growth Fund launched in December 2024, following feedback from clients and advisers who told us they wanted:
- A simpler, more streamlined fund structure
- Access to actively managed investment options
- Exposure to private assets
This fund ticks all those boxes, and we see it becoming Kōura’s flagship fund, much like Milford’s Active Growth Fund has been for its investors.
Currently, 95% of the fund is invested in the JP Morgan Global Research Enhanced Index Equity Fund, with the remaining 5% in NZ Fixed Income instruments.
We selected this JP Morgan fund for several key reasons:
- It has a proven track record of outperforming the MSCI AC World Index over the long term
- It provides Global diversification across developed and emerging markets
- It has support from over 200 JP Morgan research professionals worldwide
- It has demonstrated strong risk management to ensure the fund doesn’t stray too far from its benchmark
- It has a robust sustainable investment framework that aligns closely with Kōura’s values
As the fund grows, we plan to introduce exposure to private assets and, when the time is right, to New Zealand investments as well.
2. What This Means for Our Members
These changes only affect members currently invested in the Kōura Strategies (that’s fewer than 30 members). We’ll be reaching out to each of these members individually to explain the changes and offer them the choice to move into the Strategic High Growth Fund, or stay in their current allocations.
For new and existing members, the previous set of core funds will remain available for those who prefer them. Importantly, no one will be moved automatically — changes only apply to those who opt in.
The Strategic High Growth Fund has a 1.1% management fee, slightly higher than our existing funds. This reflects the cost of active management and our future investment in private assets.
3. Why We’re Making These Changes
Our goal is to make Kōura’s offering simpler, stronger, and smarter — particularly for investors who want a pre-built strategy or use our digital advice tool.
By adding the Strategic High Growth Fund, we’re giving members access to:
- Active management opportunities
- Broader global diversification
- The potential for higher long-term returns
This change reflects our ongoing mission to help Kiwis build better retirement outcomes. We’ll continue to evolve and refine our portfolios over time as markets, technology, and opportunities develop.
4. Are We Moving Away from Passive Investing?
Not at all. We firmly believe there’s a role for both active and passive investing in modern portfolios. Even now, Kōura makes active decisions about asset allocation, ETF selection, and fund adjustments. The introduction of the Strategic High Growth Fund simply adds another layer of opportunity — without changing our overall investment philosophy.
At Kōura, we’re focused on taking the best of both worlds to deliver the strongest possible results for our members.
*Kōura Wealth Limited is the issuer and manager of the Kōura KiwiSaver Scheme. A copy of the Product Disclosure Statement is available at kourawealth.co.nz/documents