FireSuper

The FireSuper Trustee Board comprises seven directors. The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) appoints three of those seven seats, with the remaining directors including the chairman, Denis Fitzmaurice, and independent trustee Andrew Johnson. This structure ensures that member interests receive formal representation inside the governance tent, a design uncommon among general-public superannuation schemes. The union's direct appointment power constrains the board's ideological range and reinforces a long-horizon, liability-aligned investment posture.

FireSuper outsources both manager selection and portfolio construction. The scheme's defined-contribution architecture relies on external vehicles such as the ANZ Wholesale International Property Securities Fund and the First Sentier Investors Global Listed Infrastructure Fund for core real-asset exposure. Its private equity allocation — spanning buyout, growth, and mezzanine — is also accessed through fund commitments rather than direct co-investment, a deliberate choice suited to the scheme's scale and governance capacity.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) is the sole sponsoring employer that contributes to the scheme on behalf of its firefighter members. This closed-shop arrangement means FireSuper does not compete for members in the open market — unlike KiwiSaver schemes — and the employer-sponsor's payroll and workforce planning directly influence scheme cash flows. The relationship binds FireSuper's liability profile to a single public-sector employer.

FireSuper does not disclose assets under management in public documents or on its website. This is consistent with several New Zealand closed-shop occupational schemes, which are not subject to the same continuous-disclosure expectations as listed fund managers. No independent source has published a verifiable AUM figure for the scheme.

FireSuper operates the Firefighters Scholarship, a philanthropic program providing financial support to members and their families. The scholarship sits within the scheme's organizational structure rather than in a separate charitable trust, making it an embedded benefit rather than a legally walled-off foundation. Details on award size and eligibility criteria are not publicly documented.

No. FireSuper is a standalone occupational superannuation scheme exclusively for employees of Fire and Emergency New Zealand. It does not participate in the KiwiSaver market and does not accept members from outside the firefighting workforce. This closed-shop design distinguishes it from retail KiwiSaver operators and open multi-employer schemes.

FireSuper gains international exposure through managed funds rather than direct offshore deal teams. Named vehicles include the ANZ Wholesale International Property Securities Fund, which targets global property markets, and the First Sentier Investors Global Listed Infrastructure Fund. These fund relationships, likely selected with consultant support, provide the scheme with liquid, diversified access to real assets across multiple regions without requiring the in-house resources that a direct-investment program would demand.