Managed Fund Fee Calculator
Compare two annual fee levels side by side and see exactly how much the gap costs you in lost balance over time — the effect of fee drag on a KiwiSaver or managed fund.
E.g. a low-cost passive index fund.
E.g. a higher-fee active fund.
This shows the pre-tax fee drag on your balance. NZ PIE funds (including KiwiSaver) are also taxed at your Prescribed Investor Rate (max 28%) — see the compound interest calculator for the after-tax comparison.
Lifetime cost of the 0.70% higher fee
$31,628Over 30 years, a 0.70% higher annual fee leaves you $31,628 worse off.
0.30% fund — final balance
$231,933Total fees paid: $8,391
1.00% fund — final balance
$200,305Total fees paid: $25,385
| Year | 0.30% fund | 1.00% fund | Cumulative fee gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | $26,626 | $25,972 | $654 |
| 10 | $48,544 | $46,299 | $2,245 |
| 15 | $77,437 | $72,167 | $5,270 |
| 20 | $115,527 | $105,088 | $10,439 |
| 25 | $165,739 | $146,985 | $18,754 |
| 30 | $231,933 | $200,305 | $31,628 |
"Cumulative fee gap" is the running difference in final balance caused by the fee gap alone — it compounds every year, which is why it grows faster than the raw % difference.
Why a small fee gap becomes a big dollar gap
A fund's total expense ratio (TER) — sometimes called the management expense ratio (MER) — is charged as a percentage of your balance every year, regardless of whether the fund made or lost money. It's easy to look at a 0.7 percentage-point gap (say, 0.30% vs 1.00%) and assume it costs you 0.7% × N years. In reality it costs more, because the fee is deducted from the balance before that money gets another year to compound.
Every dollar taken as a fee in year one is a dollar that can't earn a return in years two through thirty. Run at $10,000 and 6% gross growth for 30 years with no further contributions, the difference between a 0.30% fund and a 1.00% fund is roughly $9,000-$10,000 — on a lump sum with zero ongoing contributions. Add regular contributions (as with KiwiSaver or a savings plan) and the gap grows further, because more money sits in the higher-fee fund for longer.
We published a deeper, worked-example version of this analysis using KiwiSaver-specific assumptions (an $80,000 salary, employer/employee contributions, Member Tax Credit) in our research piece: KiwiSaver Fee Impact Over 30 Years. This calculator is the general-purpose, interactive version — plug in your own numbers for any managed fund, not just KiwiSaver.
A note on NZ investment tax
This calculator deliberately keeps the math general and pre-tax, so it applies to any managed fund comparison. In New Zealand, most managed funds and KiwiSaver schemes are structured as Portfolio Investment Entities (PIEs), which are taxed at your Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR) — 10.5%, 17.5%, or a maximum of 28% — rather than your full marginal tax rate. That's a separate effect from fees: PIR determines how much tax you pay on returns, while the fee determines how much of your balance is consumed by running costs. Both reduce your final balance, but independently.
If you want to see the after-tax picture including PIR, try the compound interest calculator, which compares PIE funds, KiwiSaver, and RWT-taxed savings accounts at your actual tax rate.
Frequently asked questions
What is a total expense ratio (TER) or MER?
The Total Expense Ratio (TER), also called the Management Expense Ratio (MER), is the annual cost of running a fund — management fees, admin fees, and (for some funds) performance fees — expressed as a percentage of your balance. A 1.00% TER means you pay $10 a year for every $1,000 invested, taken directly out of the fund's assets rather than billed separately.
Why does a 0.5-1% fee difference matter so much over time?
Fees compound the same way returns do — except in reverse. Each year's fee is deducted from your balance, which means it isn't there to earn a return the following year. Over 20-30 years, a fund charging 1.0% instead of 0.3% doesn't just cost you the extra 0.7% a year; the lost growth on that 0.7% compounds too, so the gap in your final balance is much larger than the headline percentage suggests.
How does this calculator model the fee?
Each year: the balance earns the entered gross return, the fee is deducted as a percentage of the post-growth balance (the standard MER approximation used by fund fact sheets), then any contribution for the year is added. This is repeated for the number of years you select, for both fee levels, so you can see the balance and total fees paid at each level side by side.
Does this include KiwiSaver or PIE tax (PIR)?
No — this calculator is intentionally general-purpose and shows the pre-tax fee drag only, so it works whether you're comparing KiwiSaver funds, managed funds, or other PIE and non-PIE investments. In New Zealand, PIE fund income (including KiwiSaver) is taxed at your Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), capped at 28%. For an after-tax, PIR-aware comparison, use our compound interest calculator.
Is a higher fee ever worth it?
Sometimes — actively managed funds charge higher fees on the promise of beating the market, and a small number do over short periods. But long-run studies (e.g. S&P SPIVA) consistently show most active funds underperform low-cost index funds after fees, especially over 10+ years. The fee is certain; the outperformance is not. That asymmetry is why fee level is one of the most reliable predictors of long-term net returns.
Where can I find my fund's actual fee?
Check your fund's Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or your KiwiSaver provider's annual statement for the 'total fund charges' or 'annual fund fee' figure. Sorted's FundFinder tool (run by the FMA-backed Sorted service) lets you compare fees across every registered KiwiSaver scheme in one place.
Sources
Last updated July 2026. This calculator models fee drag only — it does not model PIR/PIE tax, capital gains, or performance fees. See "A note on NZ investment tax" above for how PIR interacts separately with your returns. Fees are assumed constant over the full period and are deducted annually from the post-growth balance (a standard approximation — most funds actually accrue fees daily against NAV, which produces a near-identical result over a full year).
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