Source: Radio New Zealand
Younger investors are choosing KiwiSaver over property. RNZ
Traditional property investment is losing ground to KiwiSaver and other managed funds as a preferred way to make money.
ASB’s latest Investor Confidence Survey for the fourth quarter ended in December (Q4) indicated owning your own home or having a property investment was no longer seen as providing the best returns among those surveyed.
Instead, KiwiSaver and managed funds emerged as the top two performers in the eyes of investors.
ASB senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown said the survey identified a shift in perceptions on what could deliver the strongest investment returns.
“Pretty amazing to see housing knocked off the perch,” he said.
“Despite all the global uncertainty, strong KiwiSaver and managed investment funds, those returns are flowing through to confidence in those products and outshining housing.”
The December (Q4) survey also indicated investor confidence rose 11 percent over the third quarter (Q3), with the lower North Island reporting the most significant rise with confidence rising to 10 percent in Q4, compared with 3 percent in Q3.
He said there had been a generational shift since the 1987 stock market crash saw large numbers of New Zealanders’ investments in shares.
“The generational divide is apparent with the over 60s holding steady in their belief that your own home is still the best investment, which is unsurprising.
“Gen Z on the other hand believe the best returns currently lie in investing in shares of publicly listed companies, signalling the rise of the DIY investor as an accessible path to growing your portfolio.”
Tennent-Brown said the survey underscored the importance of financial education and the evolving needs of investors.
“The under 30s have been leading the way in this shift in sentiment for some time, however this quarter’s findings show a change in sentiment among most other age groups.”
However, he said New Zealanders continued to be interested in buying homes to live in, as indicated in the increase in confidence in our Housing Confidence survey.
“I think it’s really interesting to see people hopefully separating housing as a way of putting a roof over your head, which of course is a big part of our security and aspiration in New Zealand, versus investment returns,” Tennent-Brown said.
“It just means perception of property as an investment is evolving.”
The ASB investor confidence survey had been tracking NZ market sentiment since 1997.
The latest survey was based on 672 online interviews in Q4 2025 with adults aged 18 years and older throughout New Zealand. A sample of this size had a maximum margin of error of 3.8 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. Fieldwork occurred between 1October – 16 December 2025.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
