Hive Funds expands adviser-led KiwiSaver platform with new managers and portals
Hive Funds has rebranded the Aurora KiwiSaver Scheme as the Hive KiwiSaver Scheme, broadening its manager panel and fund lineup alongside new adviser and client portals.
Manager panel quadruples in size
The scheme's manager panel has grown from one to four, with Harbour Asset Management, Munro Partners, and Pie Funds Management joining incumbent manager Aurora Capital.
The fund range has expanded accordingly, growing to nine funds and two strategies in total, including six newly launched funds: the Hive Harbour Balanced Fund, Hive Harbour Growth Fund, Hive Pie Growth Fund, Hive Aurora Aggressive Fund, Hive Pie Aggressive Fund, and Hive Munro Global Growth Climate Leaders Fund. Existing Aurora-branded funds will carry over under the Hive name, such as the renamed Hive Aurora Conservative Fund.
Independent research firm Makao Investments carried out due diligence on the incoming fund managers ahead of their addition to the panel.
Hive CEO Sharon Mackay (pictured left) said the rebrand reflects a deliberate shift in the scheme's direction.
"The evolution to the Hive KiwiSaver Scheme reflects our broader strategic ambition: to build an integrated, advice-led platform," Mackay said. "It gives advisers real choice for their clients, backed by genuine specialist expertise."
New portals aim to strengthen the adviser-client relationship
Alongside the rebrand, Hive is rolling out new client and adviser portals, giving both parties access to a shared digital interface covering goal tracking, balance and performance updates, FAP information, plan adjustments, and guardian oversight of linked children's accounts.
Hive chief client officer Marcus Wild (pictured right) framed the changes as part of a broader effort to keep advisers central to KiwiSaver decision-making.
"KiwiSaver is often the biggest investment decision a New Zealander will make, and too many are making it alone. Hive exists to change that," Wild said. "We are putting advisers, and the advice they deliver, at the heart of how Kiwis grow their retirement savings and get into their first home."
The rollout also arrives amid heightened regulatory attention on this part of the KiwiSaver process, with the FMA flagging fraudulent use of first-home withdrawals as a priority for 2026/27 and signalling closer scrutiny of fund managers' verification and approval processes industry-wide.
Leadership changes accompany the expansion
The rebrand coincides with several internal appointments at Hive. Lovelyn Nofoa has been promoted to head of client success, while Aaron Li joins as senior investment operations analyst, and Emma Bell as senior product and value manager.
For mortgage advisers, the expanded fund range and new portal infrastructure may offer additional tools for supporting first-home buyer clients navigating KiwiSaver withdrawals and broader borrowing capacity conversations.
The scale of that market is significant: ANZ alone has processed more than $3 billion in KiwiSaver first-home withdrawals, with more than 9,200 members making a first-home withdrawal in the past year at an average of $43,000 each.
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