Changes to the number and nature of KiwiSaver default scheme providers is “worth examining in slower time”, according to a Treasury paper on Budget 2011 KiwiSaver reforms.
The paper, dated February 18, is one of a host released by the Treasury last week relating to Budget 2011.
The paper also revealed Ministers rejected proposals for a ‘soft’ compulsion recommendation and that the Treasury was aware the changes would create “uncertainty and unpredictability which is not helpful or encouraging to individual savers.”
One of the proposals rejected by Ministers would have seen “all eligible employees who have not previously been auto-enrolled and are not already members of KiwiSaver or an approved superannuation scheme, who do not indicate in advance of the enrolment that they do not wish to be enrolled.”
The need to carefully communicate the recommendations was also highlighted, as the paper acknowledges the changes “may reduce perceptions of the stability and predictability of the scheme.”