Written: 11 May 2022

Author: Jono O'Grady

2 min read

Welcome SuperLife! We’re thrilled to welcome SuperLife Investment Funds to Flint, providing Flint investors access to high-quality index funds! Superlife is the managed fund brand name for SmartShares, a member of the NZX group. Flint investors now have access to 38 SuperLife funds.

Introducing SuperLife

It’s an understatement to say that we’re excited about this one – SuperLife opens a world of new options for investing through Flint. You may know of SuperLife as a KiwiSaver provider, and you’d be correct – but they are also a provider of investment funds. These are managed funds, or PIEs, which invest almost solely into the ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) that Smartshares trades. This provides investors easy access to share markets by way of investing in PIE funds rather investing directly in the share market. This can be an easy way for investors to invest in share markets without needing to individually pick stocks – you simply invest in the fund.

SuperLife positions themselves in general as a ‘passive, low cost fund manager’ and believes that ‘a passive approach to investing will deliver better long-term results.’ The subject of active investing versus passive investing is a lengthy one, and not one we entertain in this article – but we’d encourage you to be informed about the differences.

SuperLife’s low fees may also be attractive to some investors. Commenting on their fees, SuperLife say ‘Our fees are among the lowest in the market. We don’t charge performance-based fees or commissions.’

Summary of funds available

Most of the SuperLife funds are ‘index funds’ designed to track ‘the market.’ There are some exceptions such as the Superlife Ethica Fund which ‘excludes assets that do not meet the fund's defined ethical investment standards.’

‘Index funds’ is one of those go-to investing phrases that you might hear around a weekend BBQ, over the proverbial water cooler or during your weekly online team catch up. An investment index tracks the performance of a chosen group of assets. In New Zealand, a well-known investment index is the NZX50. This is a grouping of the 50 largest companies listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZSX). It can be much easier to follow a group of companies rather than a whole stock exchange, and it provides a market benchmark for making comparisons with ‘the market.’

At Flint we believe that being informed is the first step in financial empowerment, so we’d encourage you to become familiar with the differences between actively managed funds and passively managed funds as different approaches to investment, and make your own informed decisions when you build your investment portfolio.

SuperLife offers a comprehensive range of funds across different geographical areas including New Zealand, Australia, US and International.

Here’s a total list of the SuperLife funds available on Flint – take a breath because it is a long list!

• SuperLife Asia Pacific Fund
• SuperLife Australian Dividend Fund
• SuperLife Australian Financials Fund
• SuperLife Australian Mid Cap Fund
• SuperLife Australian Property Fund
• SuperLife Australian Resources Fund
• SuperLife Australian Top 20 Fund
• SuperLife Balanced Fund
• SuperLife Conservative Fund
• SuperLife Emerging Markets Fund
• SuperLife Ethica Fund
• SuperLife Europe Fund
• SuperLife Global Aggregate Bond Fund
• SuperLife Global Property Fund
• SuperLife Growth Fund
• SuperLife High Growth Fund
• SuperLife Income Fund
• SuperLife NZ Bonds Fund
• SuperLife NZ Cash Fund
• SuperLife NZ Dividend Fund
• SuperLife NZ Mid Cap Fund
• SuperLife NZ Property Fund
• SuperLife NZ Top 10 Fund
• SuperLife NZ Top 50 Fund
• SuperLife Overseas Bonds Fund
• SuperLife Overseas Non-government Bonds Fund
• SuperLife Overseas Shares (Currency Hedged) Fund
• SuperLife Overseas Shares Fund
• SuperLife S&P ASX 200 Fund
• SuperLife S&P NZX 50 Fund
• SuperLife S&P NZX NZ Government Bond Fund
• SuperLife Total World Fund
• SuperLife Total World (NZD Hedged) Fund
• SuperLife US 500 Fund
• SuperLife US Large Growth Fund
• SuperLife US Large Value Fund
• SuperLife US Mid Cap Fund
• SuperLife US Small Cap Fund

From the fund names alone you a can see that Superlife offers funds across different geographies and asset focuses. Some of the underlying investments within funds overlap across funds, so be sure to dig into each fund of you are evaluating multiple fund options. We’re excited about the array of choice that SuperLife offer Flint investors and the ability these funds provide for Flint investors to access share markets in New Zealand, Australia and globally.

In summary, if you’re interested in index funds that provide diversification at a low cost, then SuperLife might be an option for you. We’d encourage you to think through your personal approach to investing and make your own informed decisions about what should or shouldn’t form part of your portfolio.

Happy researching!

Flint 

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER:

All content shared is of a general nature, current to the time it was penned, and is not financial advice. Before making any investment decisions, please be sure you have completed full due diligence. This should include reading the product disclosure statement (PDS), considering fees and taxation, identifying your time horizons, and understanding the performance history and reputation of the investments you are considering.

Please note: When investing you are not guaranteed to make money (and on occasion you may lose some or all of the money you began with). Seek independent advice to establish if an investment is suitable for your financial situation and long-term wealth generation goals.

References

https://www.superlife.co.nz/about/why-us
https://www.superlife.co.nz/investment/ethical/ethica-fund