Investing involves a great deal of expertise and thoughtful decision making behind the scenes. BNZ Investment Services Limited (BNZISL) – the issuer and manager of the investment products available through BNZ – leverages its own deep knowledge alongside the expertise of experienced local and international investment managers (referred to as underlying managers). These underlying managers have teams of specialists who make sure your money is working hard for you.

Before we jump in to learn about Harbour Asset Management Limited (Harbour), it's probably worth explaining a little bit more about how these investment products, like the BNZ KiwiSaver Scheme and YouWealth, operate.

The manager (i.e. BNZISL) is responsible for looking after investors’ interests. This includes setting the investment strategy, selecting and monitoring global and domestic underlying managers, and ensuring investments are well diversified.

Why a range of underlying managers is used

Underlying managers bring specific expertise to particular asset classes. Asset classes are different types of investments, for example, shares, bonds, property and cash. BNZISL changes its underlying managers from time to time to ensure it maintains the highest standards in its investment offering. You can see a current list of the current underlying managers here.

A strong team of experts behind the scenes

Harbour is a New Zealand based fund manager, managing over $20 billion for a variety of clients including charitable trusts, community trusts, iwi, crown financial institutions and superannuation schemes. Harbour is part of FirstCape Group, a leading wealth management business in New Zealand that also includes Consilium and JBWere New Zealand.  With 21 investment professionals and a collective combined experience of over 400 years through different market cycles, Harbour has one of the most well-resourced investment teams in the country. Harbour has a strong track record and is committed to responsible investing, with sustainability forming an integral part of their investment process and team values.

Award-winning investment expertise

Harbour's disciplined investment process has earned recognition from independent research house Morningstar, with Harbour named 2025 and 2026 Overall Fund Manager of the Year* in New Zealand. This back-to-back achievement was complemented by category wins in Domestic Equities (2025) and Fixed Interest (2026), along with a finalist nomination for Equities in 2026. The Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence recognise fund managers that have served investors well over the long term, based on a combination of risk-adjusted performance and Morningstar's forward-looking ratings.

Local experts looking after your investments

Harbour looks after cash, New Zealand fixed interest, and Australasian equities asset classes for BNZISL investment products, including the BNZ KiwiSaver Scheme and YouWealth. Harbour has specialist portfolio managers for each of these asset classes, backed by a team of dedicated researchers and economic analysts.

These investment products use a blend of active and passive management through Harbour – you can read more about active and passive investing here.

Read more from this series

•    Meet the investment managers: State Street Global Advisors
•    Meet the investment managers: Columbia Threadneedle Investments

*Morningstar Awards 2025–2026 (c) Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Awarded to Harbour Asset Management for Overall Fund Manager of the Year and Fund Manager of the Year – Fixed Interest Category, New Zealand (2026).

Harbour Asset Management was nominated for Fund Manager of the Year – Equities Category, New Zealand (2026)