Wealth manager says New Zealand can learn much from Singapore when it comes to long-term planning

SINGAPORE: The head of one of New Zealand’s leading wealth and fund management firms expressed admiration for Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme, saying that his country could learn from it.

In a piece published in Stuff on June 9 (Tuesday), Blair Turnbull, the chief executive officer at Milford Asset Management, wrote, “New Zealand doesn’t lack wealth. We lack a system that directs it.”

He then went on to describe New Zealand’s retirement savings scheme, KiwiSaver, writing that though it is a strong foundation, the scheme is optional and is too heavily dependent on personal discipline when it comes to saving, which means people do not end up with enough.

He compared it to systems in other countries, where long-term saving is mandatory and becomes part of people’s working lives, noting that “Over time, this compounds into more comfortable retirements for individuals and deeper pools of capital to invest in their future.”

For Mr Turnbull, who lived with his family in Singapore for four years, the city-state is one of the clearest examples of this. The mindset behind CPF is what appears to have greatly impressed him, which is the focus on long-term planning that “shows up everywhere – in government, across the economy, and within households.”

He went on to praise Singapore’s scheme, where savings are not optional but “expected, structured, and sustained.”

For comparison’s sake, Mr Turbull noted that for Singaporeans younger than 55, the contribution rate is around 37%, while in New Zealand, it is around 7%, with many not contributing altogether.

“Those numbers tell the story. One system actively channels wealth into long-term savings. The other largely assumes individuals will figure it out for themselves – and many do not.

That doesn’t happen by accident. Singapore has spent decades building a system that makes long-term saving the norm. Over time, that has helped create both stronger retirement outcomes and one of the world’s most productive economies,” he added.

Mr Turnbull ended his piece by noting how New Zealand has been widely praised in a number of aspects. However, it would do well to follow Singapore’s example in adapting long-term thinking and saving into everyday life.

Last year, Singapore’s CPF was the first social security savings scheme in the Asia-Pacific to receive top marks in a yearly ranking of such systems.

On the 2025 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, CPF earned an A rating, the first time it has done so in the 17 years since the index began. In 2023 and 2024, the scheme received a B+ rating. Only the Netherlands, Iceland, Denmark and Israel were in the same top-rated group on the index. /TISG

Read also: Singapore’s CPF ranks 5th in the 2024 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index