Financial Markets Conduct (Portfolio Superannuation Scheme) Exemption Notice 2023

The Notice exempts Saturn Invest New Zealand (Saturn) as manager of the Portfolio Superannuation Scheme (the self-select scheme) from certain provisions of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (the FMC Act), the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2014 (the FMC Regulations), and the Financial Markets Conduct (Fees) Regulations 2014.

The exemptions recognise the difficulties faced by Saturn as fund manager of the self-select scheme in complying with the disclosure requirements of the FMC Regulations. The exemptions also recognise the uniquely high fee burden Saturn would face in relation to the self-select scheme given the requirement for lodgement fees to be paid on a 'per fund' basis. In the absence of the exemptions, Saturn would be required to comply with disclosure requirements that are likely to result in a high compliance burden (and compliance costs) without providing useful information for investors that will help them to make decisions relating to financial products.

The exemptions are subject to conditions that require retail investors in Saturn’s self-select scheme to be advised by a financial advice provider and that provide for investors to have access to more meaningful information relating to the scheme in the PDS and a supplement to the PDS and also for investors to receive quarterly reports containing personalised investor information relating to their own self-selected portfolio.

In these circumstances the granting of the exemptions is desirable in order to promote the purposes of the FMC Act, specifically by avoiding unnecessary compliance costs, providing for timely, accurate and understandable information to be provided to investors to assist them with making investment decisions and by promoting innovation and flexibility in the financial markets. The FMA also considers that the exemption is not broader than is reasonably necessary to address the particular difficulties experienced by Saturn as manager of the self-select scheme.

Download the Financial Markets Conduct (Portfolio Superannuation Scheme) Exemption Notice 2023, PDF