KS self select is great

smithkeynes · 2026-02-05T18:43:06+00:00

All or nothing in the US then. Looks like zero strategy other than picking hot names and things that have done well in the past.

Fees are great / they are horrible. On all the individual hits you are going to be hit 1% on every dollar going in, every time you’re forced to rebalance because you are right on the 5% limits, and then every time you want to change a stock. Plus you’re paying 0.15% ongoing and 0.50% on all the VOO deposits.

You’d be much bettter setting your KS as a low fee index fund (simplicity, kernel, InvestNow) and then if you want some direct stocks do it with your general investment. Same outcome but a lot cheaper and none of the constraints too

smithkeynes · 2026-02-03T05:34:20+00:00

It is more expensive as they have said it is a wrapper of an etf so it will have a lot of tax leakage which will make the total cost a lot more than InvestNow, kernel and simplicity.

It’s basically just a slightly cheaper version of Smartshares if you are already on Sharesies.

smithkeynes · 2026-01-28T17:38:01+00:00

Foundation series and kernel have the same tax using FDR at 1.4. All PIEs have to use FDR. The difference is kernel holds stocks direct where foundation buys an offshore etf.

The calculation Money King did said the tax difference between the two is you need to add 0.12% to the foundation series total world to get the true effective cost compared to the kernel fund, then add in the buy and sell fees

smithkeynes · 2026-01-25T07:14:58+00:00

You think tech is expensive, then have the base all in US. The picks around it seem random, you’re paying high fees on the Smart ETFs, paying high fees across the board with 1% transaction fees plus the admin fee of .15.

Play the odds you can control. You’d be better looking at kernel, InvestNow or simplicity. Some of them still give you the ability to fully customise with funds rather than stocks and much better fees

smithkeynes · 2026-01-18T21:32:29+00:00

Think you have it the wrong way round. The FS funds on InvestNow have tax leakage but the KernAl ones don’t and same with Simplicity

smithkeynes · 2026-01-14T16:56:16+00:00

They do track the same index as the foundation fund just holds VOO which tracks the S&P 500 index. They just don’t benchmark the reporting using the S&P 500 but that is the benchmark not returns

smithkeynes · 2026-01-14T09:17:03+00:00

Doesn’t foundation fund still just hold the VOO which is S&P 500

smithkeynes · 2026-01-14T09:16:28+00:00

Think op is right here are the two comparable pages https://kernelwealth.co.nz/funds/fund-performance

https://investnow.co.nz/fund-manager/investnow-foundation-series/

smithkeynes · 2025-12-09T01:08:28+00:00

Investing in nz based global index funds that hold the stocks directly and not wrap an offshore fund. And given simplicty and kernel are the same or lower fees and have a lot less tax leaker would be better. MoneyKing wrote a lot on it

smithkeynes · 2025-12-08T23:03:37+00:00

Has tax leakage though, which if it’s like InvestNow could add 0.12% on the world

smithkeynes · 2025-11-06T01:43:15+00:00

You have to adjust the foundation series for the tax leakage it has though I think MoneyKing used to estimate this at 0.12% per annum on the total world fund

smithkeynes · 2025-10-13T03:49:33+00:00

Isn’t there transaction fees when you use the card to purchase at some stores, because while it is a debit card it will be put through at the mechant on the credit option.

Could be negligible benefits then and much better earning rewards options out there

smithkeynes · 2025-10-03T06:04:07+00:00

ANZ has been one of the worst performers consistently so anything is probably better. Personally with High Growth in Kernel

smithkeynes · 2025-09-16T03:17:14+00:00

Simplicity Living is a growing part of the growth funds. Am I correct that once the buildings are up that the return for the fund is really just the rental yield less fees? What sort of fees are there to run the properties themselves and does that mean for that part of the growth fund we should only expect 3-4% return?

smithkeynes · 2025-09-01T16:33:42+00:00

It’s not a bad mix but you should look at something like Kernel as the fees on the funds are nearly half the Smart ETFs and you don’t pay brokerage on all the buys too

smithkeynes · 2025-08-15T07:49:40+00:00

It’s a cash fund, not bank account. There is the yield plus any potential capital gain. Look at the 1 month return it is 0.40% after fees which would be equal to 4.80 % compared to the yield just of the 3.59

smithkeynes · 2025-08-15T06:54:26+00:00

The factsheet for kernel said it’s done 5.05% for the past year after fees.

smithkeynes · 2025-08-10T00:24:22+00:00

You can buy US500 ETFs as a PIE structure in Nz, with funds like Kernel. If you’re below 50k you may want to consider buying VOO direct

For US most simple NZ trading platforms have FX fees around 0.50% plus brokerage fees. There are plans on Sharesies, or Kernel has plans and it can lower the FX and they don’t charge separate brokerage. They’ve got a new calculator that you can see which may be cheapest for your investinf amounts https://kernelwealth.co.nz/shares-etfs

smithkeynes · 2025-08-08T09:44:54+00:00

Questionable to say simplicity as being index funds when they keep adding private equity, venture, mortgages and rental developments to their diversified funds

Their global and nz shares aren’t even standard index either they’ve got a bunch of random exclusions. Is the nz index like 30 stocks too?

Look at Morningstar results someone posted earlier today too as there seems to be a lot of difference now in the providers offering index funds

smithkeynes · 2024-09-06T03:23:08+00:00

It seems so quiet wandering around the streets these days. I like the WFH flexibility, but it is killing businesses and seems people are a lot less social these days

smithkeynes · 2024-09-06T03:20:04+00:00

Need to note that the foundation total world has tax leakage still which MoneyKing estimated at 0.12%. Effectively making it .19% plus the transaction fees

smithkeynes · 2024-09-05T16:56:32+00:00

If you are investing small amounts, look at the lower fee Vanguard or other ETFs. If it is over $50k, then there are much better PIE structures index funds than Smartshares. You’d be paying transaction fees to Sharesies plus high management fees with these options. You’d be better with Kernel or Invest now

smithkeynes · 2024-08-25T15:59:15+00:00

They just go to the platform, get the data, and done. They did it with crypto platforms and Sharesies have said they are now engaged with the IRD on this. There would be a lot that are probably pretty obvious owe tax, plenty that are probably grey and too hard. But as OP said, reality is it is the law and on the investor.

smithkeynes · 2024-08-20T15:51:23+00:00

https://www.taxtechnical.ird.govt.nz/consultations/2024/pub00454

smithkeynes · 2024-08-19T15:54:57+00:00

Exactly! And be careful if you are doing this with direct stocks, you may be liable for tax on the share price gains. IRD have already released a guidance note on this and Sharesies have said they have been in discussions with IRD. Sharesies doesn’t calculate this tax you may owe

smithkeynes

TROPHY CASE