How safe is my money with kōura?

kōura is a licensed KiwiSaver scheme regulated by the Financial Markets Authority. When you invest in the kōura KiwiSaver Scheme, we (the manager) do not handle your money (apart from your fees). Your money goes into the Scheme’s bank account controlled by the Scheme’s Supervisor (Public Trust). Your money is then invested in shares and bonds that are owned by the Scheme and you become a member of the Scheme. 

We manage the Scheme for you (by investing your funds) and Public Trust ensures we are managing the Scheme’s investments in line with the rules and regulations set out in the Scheme documents. If for any reason kōura were to run into difficulties, your investments would not be affected and the Scheme’s investments would be transferred to another manager. The risk of using kōura as your KiwiSaver provider is the same as the risk of using any KiwiSaver provider- every provider has to report to the FMA and have a Supervisor.

You also need to remember that you are investing in the financial markets and there are no guarantees, so your KiwiSaver account balance will fluctuate over time. We mitigate market risk by diversifying investments both in New Zealand and internationally. The kōura KiwiSaver scheme is invested in over 3,000 companies across over 50 different countries.