Anyone Can Have a Good Year. What About a Good Decade?

A great 12 months can make any investment fund look impressive.

The harder test is what happens over five years, ten years, and through very different market conditions along the way.

That's what makes some recent figures from Generate interesting. Its three original KiwiSaver funds—Moderate, Growth and Focused Growth—have now been operating long enough to have 10-year returns included in Morningstar's quarterly KiwiSaver rankings.

And rather than looking at one particularly good quarter, Generate has pulled together every quarterly Morningstar ranking since these funds first became eligible for a 10-year comparison in June 2023.

The results provide an interesting case study in why KiwiSaver investors should pay attention to consistency, not just whoever happens to be at the top of the table today.

How Do the Morningstar Rankings Work?

Morningstar compares KiwiSaver funds with other funds in similar investment categories.

Generate's Moderate Fund is compared within Morningstar's Moderate category, its Growth Fund within the Growth category, and its Focused Growth Fund within the Aggressive category.

The rankings used by Generate are based on 10-year returns after fees and before tax, and the data runs through to 30 June 2026.

That's important because comparing a conservative fund with an aggressive fund wouldn't tell us much. They are designed to take different levels of investment risk.

The more meaningful question is: how has a fund performed compared with other funds taking a broadly similar approach?

Generate Focused Growth: Top Three in Every Quarter

The standout number belongs to Generate's Focused Growth Fund.

Since becoming eligible for Morningstar's 10-year rankings in June 2023, it has ranked among the top three Aggressive funds for 10-year returns in all 13 quarterly reports covered by Generate's analysis.

That's a 100% top-three record.

Looking at the table on page two of Generate's flyer, its rankings have moved around within that top three. It ranked first in several quarters, dropped to third in others, and was back to 1st out of 10 funds in the June 2026 report.

That's a useful distinction.

It hasn't been number one every quarter. Instead, the notable point is that its rolling 10-year return has consistently remained among the leading funds in its Morningstar category over the period Generate analysed.

Generate Moderate: Top Three in 92% of Quarters

The Moderate Fund has a similarly strong record.

Across the same 13 quarterly Morningstar reports, Generate says the fund ranked in the top three for its 10-year return on 12 occasions—or 92% of the time.

For much of the period it was actually ranked first in its category.

Its ranking slipped to fourth in March 2026 before moving back to 3rd out of 16 Moderate funds in June 2026.

That movement itself is a useful reminder for investors: rankings change.

Even a fund with a strong long-term record won't necessarily occupy the same position every quarter.

Generate Growth: Top Three in 77% of Quarters

Generate's Growth Fund has spent 10 of the 13 quarters in the top three for 10-year returns, giving it a top-three rate of 77% over the period analysed.

The detailed results show why looking beneath a headline percentage can be useful.

The fund ranked second or third for most of the period from June 2023 through September 2025. It then moved to fifth in December 2025 and March 2026, before improving to 4th out of 17 funds in June 2026.

So, unlike Focused Growth, the Growth Fund isn't currently in the top three based on the June 2026 ranking.

Its longer record, however, shows why one quarter doesn't necessarily tell the full story.

Why 10-Year Performance Can Tell Us More Than One Good Year

Short-term KiwiSaver rankings can move around considerably.

Different investment styles perform better under different market conditions. A fund with greater exposure to a particular sharemarket, industry or type of asset could have an exceptional year, then find itself further down the rankings when conditions change.

A 10-year return captures a much longer period.

That doesn't make it a prediction of what's coming next, but it does give investors another way to assess how a fund has performed over a meaningful timeframe.

For example, imagine two Growth funds.

One has just had an exceptional 12 months but has spent much of the previous decade around the middle of its peer group. Another isn't currently number one but has regularly ranked near the top over longer periods.

Which is more interesting?

There's no automatic answer, but we'd generally want to understand the longer story before making a decision.

Past Performance Still Isn't the Same as Future Performance

This is the important caveat.

A strong 10-year track record doesn't guarantee a strong next 10 years.

Generate itself makes this clear in the material, noting that fund performance and category rankings can change, while investment returns can be positive or negative.

KiwiSaver providers can change investment strategies. Fund managers can change. Markets can behave very differently from the previous decade.

Performance is therefore an important consideration, but it shouldn't be the only one.

Fees, investment strategy, risk, diversification, responsible investment preferences and your own timeframe all deserve consideration too.

The Right Fund Category Matters Just as Much

There's another danger in focusing too heavily on rankings: you can choose a very good fund in completely the wrong category for your circumstances.

Someone in their 30s investing for retirement may have decades to ride through market fluctuations and could potentially be comfortable with significant exposure to growth assets.

Someone preparing to make a first-home withdrawal in the near future could have a completely different tolerance for a sudden market decline.

The question isn't simply:

"Which fund has performed best?"

It's also:

"How much investment risk makes sense for what I'm trying to achieve?"

Only once you've thought about that does comparing providers within the appropriate category become particularly useful.

What Can KiwiSaver Investors Take From These Results?

Generate's figures provide a good example of why long-term consistency deserves attention.

Across the 13 quarterly Morningstar reports from June 2023 to June 2026, its three original funds collectively recorded a top-three result in their respective 10-year categories in an average of 89.7% of the quarters analysed. Individually, Focused Growth achieved 100%, Moderate 92%, and Growth 77%.

Those are strong historical rankings.

But they shouldn't be interpreted as saying Generate—or any particular Generate fund—is automatically the right KiwiSaver choice for everyone.

Instead, the figures reinforce a broader lesson.

Don't judge a KiwiSaver fund by one good year.

Look at the longer-term picture. Understand what the fund invests in. Compare it with genuinely similar funds. Consider the fees and level of risk you're taking. Then bring that back to what you're actually trying to achieve.

Because KiwiSaver could be an investment you hold for decades.

It makes sense to assess it on a similar timeframe.

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Disclaimer

This article provides general information only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Performance and ranking information is based on Generate Investment Management's June Quarter 2026 Fund Rank Flyer, which draws on successive Morningstar KiwiSaver 360 reports from June 2023 to June 2026. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investment returns can be positive or negative, and the appropriate KiwiSaver fund will depend on individual circumstances, objectives and risk tolerance.