Almost half of private investors in New Zealand who have disposable assets or investments worth at least US$100,000 were KiwiSaver members at the end of the March quarter, according to an ING Investor Dashboard Sentiment survey. A further 22% are expected to join by the end of June. However, despite the join-up rate for high net worth investors, only roughly 27% of all those eligible to become KiwiSaver members have joined up to the scheme, ING said. ING's Head of KiwiSaver Distribution David Boyle said that the reduction of the minimum contribution rate from 4% to 2% this month may encourage more people to join the scheme.

"Lowering the minimum contribution rate to 2% may well regenerate interest from those who previously saw the 4% contribution level as a barrier," Boyle said. Inland Revenue statistics for the end of March show just over 1 million Kiwis have joined up to the scheme. Respondents to the survey were at least 30 years old.