Fidelity Life’s Options Kiwi Fund was named as the best performing KiwiSaver fund out of 120 surveyed by FundSource for the three years to December 31, 2010.
With an annual average return of 11.59% over three years the Fidelity Life Kiwi Options was placed well ahead of the next placed fund in the survey, the Milford KiwiSaver Aggressive Fund.
In the year to January 31 it returned 9.21%.
The fund is one of the more unique KiwiSaver funds and is modeled on Fidelity’s Options Portfolio, managed by Tyndall Investment Management, which is a cash fund that issues options on US 10-year and other government bonds.
Fidelity Life CEO Milton Jennings said the alternative, fixed-interest strategy of the Options Kiwi Fund had produced consistently high returns for its KiwiSaver investors and attracted a growing number of New Zealanders.
The overall fund is now worth $36.7 million, up 64% on the year-earlier period.
“We have to produce consistent, and consistently high, returns for our customers to be successful,” Jennings said.
“The key benefit of our Options Kiwi Fund for investors is its focus on sound medium to long term management. This means the shorter term swings of potentially volatile financial markets are smoothed out.”
Jennings said that for Options KiwiSaver Fund customers, “the results speak for themselves.”
“An initial $1,000 invested with Fidelity Life in the fund three years ago on February 1, 2008 is now worth $1,473.97 on January 28, 2011.”
Jennings also said some 80% of Fidelity Life’s senior management have all or some of their portfolios invested in the company’s Options range of products.
He also said KiwiSaver has been a constant growth area for Fidelity Life, with a 96.6% increase in KiwiSaver funds under management, from $92.3 million on January 31, 2010 to $181.5 million on January 31, 2011.
Fidelity Life has signed up a total of 72,000 KiwiSaver members since the launch of the scheme more than three years ago.