Kernel US Bond Fund

This fund charges 0.3 percent annually and holds just $600,000 in assets, making it one of the smallest offerings in the New Zealand KiwiSaver market. Kernel Wealth runs it as a pure play on US investment-grade bonds, achieved by placing the entire portfolio into a single American ETF: the iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF. That wrapper tracks a broad index of US government debt, corporate bonds and mortgage-backed securities, giving exposure to thousands of underlying bonds through one holding.

The structure is clean but concentrated. The fund returned 5.7 percent over the year to March 2025, though longer track records are not yet available. International bonds sit at 100.49 percent of the portfolio, with a small negative cash position offsetting the overweight. The ETF itself is classified as international equities in the holdings data, but the underlying exposure is fixed interest. Currency risk sits with the investor: the bonds are denominated in US dollars, and movements in the exchange rate will affect returns in New Zealand dollar terms.

At 0.3 percent, the management fee sits well below the category average. The fund's tiny scale means it operates outside the mainstream, and its single-ETF approach leaves no room for active management or diversification beyond what the underlying index provides.

General information only, not financial advice. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.