# New Zealand Fire Service Superannuation Scheme (Firesuper)

New Zealand Fire Service Superannuation Scheme (Firesuper) is a Pension Fund based in Christchurch, New Zealand.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Christchurch, New Zealand
- **Region:** Oceania
- **Address:** Christchurch, New Zealand
- **Founded:** 2001
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** firesuper.co.nz
- **LinkedIn:** https://nz.linkedin.com/company/nz-super-fund

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

New Zealand Fire Service Superannuation Scheme, operating as Firesuper, is the dedicated pension arrangement for career and volunteer firefighters employed by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ). The scheme was established under a trust deed with FireSuper Trustee Limited acting as the corporate trustee. Governance is deliberately tripartite: the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union appoints three directors to the trustee board, ensuring member interests hold direct boardroom representation alongside independent trustees like Andrew Johnson and former Treasury deputy secretary Angela Hauk-Willis. The scheme runs on a defined-contribution basis, meaning members bear investment risk and retirement outcomes depend on contribution rates and net returns. Public disclosures point to a conservative asset mix anchored by long-duration real assets. A confirmed allocation is the International Listed Infrastructure Portfolio, a global mandate spanning regulated utilities, transport assets, and communications infrastructure. Geographic focus is predominantly New Zealand and Australia, with global exposure through the listed infrastructure sleeve. The scheme participates in Financial Services Complaints Limited, an independent dispute resolution scheme, giving members an external avenue for grievances. Philanthropic or grant-making activity is not publicly disclosed. The most recent publicly noted governance change was the appointment of Angela Hauk-Willis as a director, leveraging her experience from the New Zealand Treasury. Firesuper's structural differentiator is its embedded union governance model. Few pension schemes globally mandate that the workforce's own union directly appoints a bloc of trustee directors. This aligns fiduciary duty with a built-in stakeholder feedback loop that can influence investment policy, fee scrutiny, and benefit design more directly than a standard corporate trustee board typically allows.

## Sectors

- Infrastructure
- Real Assets

## People

- Denis Fitzmaurice — Chairman, FireSuper Trustee Limited
- Angela Hauk-Willis — Director, FireSuper Trustee Limited
- Andrew Johnson — Licensed Independent Trustee

## Questions

### Who governs FireSuper and how are investment decisions made?

FireSuper Trustee Limited is the corporate trustee responsible for governance and investment decisions. The board includes independent trustees plus three directors appointed by the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union, ensuring member representation. Public filings indicate that investment strategy and manager selection are handled at the board level, with custody and administration outsourced to institutional providers.

### What is the relationship between FireSuper and Fire and Emergency New Zealand?

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) is the sponsoring employer of the scheme. FENZ facilitates payroll deductions for member contributions and, under the governing trust deed, makes employer contributions to the defined-contribution plan on behalf of its firefighters.

### Does FireSuper allocate to infrastructure and how is that exposure gained?

Yes. Firesuper maintains a specifically designated International Listed Infrastructure Portfolio with a global mandate. This sleeve invests in publicly traded infrastructure securities including regulated utilities, toll roads, airports, and communications towers, providing inflation-linked cash flows appropriate for a long-duration pension liability profile.

### Is the scheme defined benefit or defined contribution?

Firesuper is a defined-contribution scheme. Member retirement balances depend on cumulative contributions from both the firefighter and FENZ as the employer, plus net investment returns. The scheme does not guarantee a specific pension payout formula linked to final salary and years of service.

## Related profiles

- [New York Times Company Pension Fund](https://altss.com/profile/new-york-times-company-pension-fund)
- [New Zealand Green Investment Finance](https://altss.com/profile/new-zealand-green-investment-finance)

---

Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/new-zealand-fire-service-superannuation-scheme-firesuper

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology
