Sugar is an app designed to make investing simple for the everyday Kiwi - for those who don’t have the time for extensive research, or the passion for investing, or the money to get their own financial advisor.
It is an investment platform which offers the opportunity to invest in a small number of managed funds.
During sign-up, you choose an amount to invest each payday - weekly, fortnightly or monthly. And that’s it! We call this set and forget and it will help you make a habit of investing.
You can invest additional funds at any time you wish with a couple of taps on the app.
Working 9-5 is no longer enough to prepare for your future. The cost of housing, travel, groceries and everything else keeps rising while the rate of interest you can earn in your savings account remains low.
We want to enable everyday people to get ahead, while ensuring that they get to spend the majority of their non-working time with friends and family.
Signing up is super easy - First you download the Sugar Wallet app, then follow the steps needed for the verification process. Here are the links for Android and for iPhone that will enable you to download the app.
You then set an investment plan of how much you’d like to invest, how frequently (weekly, fortnightly, monthly), and which managed fund to invest in.
Sugar Wallet has to make sure that you are who you say you are, and you live where you say you live.
Therefore, you must provide one of the following to verify your identity:
And one of these documents to verify your address:
This could be any of the following:
Please note that the trusted referee must not be: a) related to you b) your partner or c) a person who lives at your address.
Make a copy of your 18+ card and bring this with original to a trusted referee, and get them to write on the documents stating: "I certify that this is a true copy of the original document which I have seen and it represents the identity of [Your Name]".
The trusted referee should then write their name, the date, note what type of trusted referee they are (eg a registered teacher) and sign the document. Then it becomes a certified copy.
If there is an issue with verifying your address or identity during sign-up, you should be sent an email asking you to upload proof of address and/or identity documents online.
Please check your junk or spam folder to see if you’ve received this email.
If you haven’t received it then please get in touch with us at hello@sugarwallet.com and we can verify your identity and/or address manually.
Sugar is compatible with most major banks, apart from BNZ.
This is due to BNZ not having yet agreed to work with Akahu, our third party open banking provider. We are working with Akahu to persuade BNZ to join the open banking revolution.
You have to be 18 or over.
Unfortunately, we do not offer this feature yet with Sugar Wallet. However, there has been a large amount of requests for this function, so we are hoping to introduce kids accounts later in the year.
No it is only possible to have one account per person.
Unfortunately not at the moment as the service has only launched in New Zealand so far.
Sugar Free: if you have less than $250 invested then we do not charge anything at all.
Sugar Rush: for those with more than $250 invested, then we charge $3 per month which will be automatically taken from your linked bank account.
We have no transaction or withdrawal fees.
Please note that there is currently a 0.31% fee charged by Simplicity, the manager of the funds available via Sugar Wallet.
Sugar Wallet is the simplest investment platform available in New Zealand.
Open banking enables customers to deposit and withdraw funds within a couple of taps, and our easy-to-use app keeps track of your investment for you. During the onboarding process you link your bank account, choose your investment fund and can set a regular weekly, biweekly or monthly investment to occur automatically.
You can invest for as little as $1 and withdraw at any time (unlike KiwiSaver).
Ultimately, Sugar gives you the opportunity to turn investing into a habit at the price of much less than one coffee a month.
Currently, Simplicity charge a 0.31% management fee for the three managed funds available via Sugar Wallet. Each year, this would work out to be $3.10 in management fees if you had $1000 invested.
For more information on the funds and the fees charged by Simplicity please read:
We retain part or all of the interest that is earned on the pooled cash account. The Interest retained is the difference between the amount of interest earned on the pooled cash account and the amount of interest we credit to investors' cash accounts.
During sign-up you will have the option to choose an investment plan which consists of how much you want to invest and how often (weekly, fortnightly or monthly).
You can make additional one-off deposits at anytime by going to the ‘Deposit’ tab in the menu and following the prompts.
At the moment Sugar offers the opportunity to invest in just three managed funds provided by Simplicity NZ Ltd. These are the Simplicity Growth, Balanced, and Conservative funds.
For more information on the funds please read:
In a managed fund, your money is pooled with other investors’ money and spread across different kinds of assets. A fund manager chooses the underlying assets, and each investor owns a portion of the total fund.
These portions that you own are called units. The price of units can go up or down.
Sorted.co.nz explains more here.
At the moment, Simplicity funds are the only ones available to invest in on Sugar Wallet. Simplicity NZ Limited is the fund manager for these managed funds.
Investment returns can vary significantly between conservative, balanced and growth funds. Which fund you choose should be in consideration of your age, risk appetite, future goals and time horizon for investing (among other things).
Sorted.co.nz has an ‘investor kickstarter’ which will help you figure out the right type of managed fund is for you.
Different financial products are riskier than others.
The Government has created a tool to help investors understand their risk profile: https://sorted.org.nz/tools/investor-kickstarter. And has guidance on different types of investments.
The value of an investment can go up or down. In the case of managed funds, the unit price determines the value, and this will change depending on the market.
As a consequence, there is a risk of losing the money you have deposited into Sugar Wallet.
The Product Disclosure Statement for the managed funds available through Sugar Wallet can be found here. You should read this before you make an investment in either the Simplicity Growth, Balanced or Conservative funds. It includes information on risk and returns.
Sugar Wallet isn’t authorised to provide personalised financial advice, so we can't make recommendations on how you should invest.
You would definitely be able to continue investing while living overseas as long as long as you:
The underlying assets of each fund can be found in the Quarterly Investment Fund Update for each fund under the heading ‘Top 10 Investments’. Refer to the below Quarterly Investment Fund Update for each corresponding managed fund:
You can direct us to withdraw $X of your investment whenever you like. Just go to the ‘Withdraw’ tab in the app and choose how much you would like to receive.
But remember that when you direct us to withdraw from your balance, you are requesting us to sell units you own of the managed fund.
If we receive the withdrawal request before 11.30am on a working day, then we will put through the sell order at 2pm. Given the unit price at that time, we will sell the number of units required to equal the amount you have requested for withdrawal.
If we receive the withdrawal request after 11.30am on a working day or at any time on a non-working day, then we will put through the sell order at 2pm the following working day. Given the unit price at that time, we will sell the number of units required to equal the amount you have requested for withdrawal.
It takes 4-5 working days to sell your units of the managed fund and return the proceeds back into your account.
If you withdraw all the funds in your account then this requires us to sell all the units of the fund you hold. If the unit price at the time you requested the withdrawal, is higher than the unit price at the time of sale, then you may receive less (or more) than you requested.
There is (pretty much) no minimum! Choose to invest from as little as $1, whenever you feel like it.
We place a $10,000 daily limit on deposits from users. But your bank may place a more stringent daily limit on deposits. You will need to check with your bank.
Money deposited into Sugar Wallet is used to purchase units in your chosen managed fund.
If you deposit before 11.30am, then we will put through the buy order at 2pm the same day. We will buy the number of units possible given the unit price at that time and the amount you’ve deposited.
If you deposit after 1.30am on a working day or at any time on a non-working day, then we will put through the buy order at 2pm the following working day. We will buy the number of units possible given the unit price at that time and the amount you’ve deposited.
Your balance and return will update accordingly.
The deposit from your bank account via the app occurs instantly. But it takes between 4-5 working days for us to purchase units on your behalf and update the balance and returns on your app accordingly.
Unit pricing is calculated on working days (i.e not weekends or Public Holidays) and is reflected in your app 2-3 working days later. This is industry standard.
Switching requires us to sell all your units in one fund and with the proceeds, purchase units in another fund.
If you initiate a switch before 11.30am, then all the units held will be sold at 2pm the same day, at the unit price available. If you initiate a switch after 11.30am or at any time on a non-working day, then all units held will be sold at 2pm the next working day.
Therefore this process can take between 8-12 working days from the point of request to your balance and returns being updated on the app.
Returns should show up five working days after the first time you deposit. This is the time it takes to receive your deposit, to purchase the units of your chosen fund and to update the return and balance figures on your app accordingly.
Returns are shown as a percentage. It is the percentage increase or decrease in the value of the units you own since you purchased them.
The price of units is influenced by market movements, the value of underlying assets and other factors including interest rates, currency prices and inflows into the managed funds. Therefore returns can be negative or positive at different times.
Select the ‘Investment Plan’ tab on the app, and tap the red outlined box which reads: ‘Change’.
You can then amend the date that the investment is 'Starting on’ or alternatively the amount you would like to invest.
Tap 'Save' in the bottom right hand corner
Tap 'Confirm' at the bottom of the next screen.
And that way you should be able to change your recurring payment date!
We take the money out of your account between 8-11pm on the date of your recurring investment. Therefore, the buy orders for new units are put through at 2pm the following working day. We will purchase the number of units possible given the unit price at that time and the amount of your recurring deposit.
Yes! You can make a one-off deposit at anytime by going to the ‘Deposit’ tab in the menu and following the prompts.
Yes, absolutely. Just go the 'Investment Plan' tab on the app. There you can cancel your investment plan. Then go to the ‘Deposit’ tab and invest flexibly around a more irregular schedule.
There are a few possibilities.
*Disconnected bank account*
If you have changed your internet banking pin or password recently then this can cause your bank account to be disconnected.
Please go to the 'Settings' tab in the menu and tap 'Change/Disconnect Bank Account' then you should be able to reactivate your bank account by following the instructions.
*Limit of $400 deposits with some banks*
Deposits over $400 are not going through for those with Westpac or Co-Op bank accounts.
Please either:
If these do not seem like the right solutions for you, please get in contact with us at hello@sugarwallet.com to discuss other options.
Whilst, we don’t have transaction limits on our platform, some of our supported banks through Akahu may place daily limits on deposits. These limitations apply in turn to Sugar payments. So, You will need to check with your bank if this limitation applies to you.
Westpac and Co-Operative bank require you to complete an MFA request for payments greater than $500 value (although this threshold is sometimes less). This is completed as an extra measure to help protect your bank account. If this is inconveniencing you at any point, you are able to reduce your recurring investment amount as a work around and make up the difference by depositing a one-off deposit into your Sugar account.
ANZ has a default single payment limit of $10,000 on all accounts. Therefore, if you are experiencing issues making a one-off deposit of $10,000+ through ANZ, we recommend breaking this deposit into multiple chunks of $10,000 or less to avoid this limit.
Unfortunately we can’t transfer existing KiwiSaver investments to Sugar Wallet, as we are not a KiwiSaver provider. Sugar is a separate investment where you can start contributing toward your future.
Sugar Wallet is an investment platform. We offer access to managed funds - eg Simplicity’s Growth, Balanced and Conservative Investment Funds.
KiwiSaver is another type of managed fund, designed to support New Zealander’s buying their first home or in their retirement.
Yes you can! We aren't a KiwiSaver provider, so your investments via Sugar Wallet would be separate to any investments you have with your KiwiSaver.
We get it - it’s a strange feeling entering your information on a new platform. We are registered with the FMA (Financial Market Authority) and are a registered Financial Service Provider.
You can look us up by searching Sugar Limited and Sugar Nominees Limited on the Financial Services Providers Register here.
Sugar Wallet uses a standard approach for the industry. A customer’s assets (including cash) and their interests in a fund will be held by a custodian on their behalf. That custodian is Sugar Nominees Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Sugar Limited.
Each customer is individually registered on Adminis NZ and therefore owns the units in the managed fund themselves. But Sugar Limited places the order for the units and Sugar Nominees Limited holds the units on a customer’s behalf.
The reason is open banking.
Open banking makes it as easy as possible for you to invest. For example, instead of logging into your bank account each time you want to invest on Sugar Wallet, you can just tell us to take the money out for you in a few taps. Open banking allows you to set up an investment plan upon sign up and immediately get into the habit of investing.
Sugar Wallet requires very limited access to your bank account to achieve this. Essentially we would only be authorised to take payments into our account, from your account, when you say so. And we would certainly not have access to your login details or passwords.
Open banking is common practice in many other countries including the UK and Australia - it is just starting to become normal in New Zealand too.
Sugar Wallet would have only have limited access to the single bank account you'd connect via Akahu. We'd use that access primarily to initiate payments into our account upon your request, but also to check the balance of your account, and look at your transactions during on boarding so as to help set up an ideal recurring investment (taking into account your income and payday).
We use Akahu, a third party app, to connect to your bank account thus enabling open banking.
In Akahu's terms and conditions, they outline how their service works: https://www.akahu.nz/end-user-terms
You can see exactly when and what data we have accessed in your account at: https://my.akahu.io/login
There you can also disconnect your account at any time, or from the Settings screen in the Sugar Wallet app.
At the moment we do not offer this function except in special circumstances. However, we will consider introducing this option for those concerned about connecting their bank accounts via Akahu.
Simply put, we do not and will not sell or rent your personal information to anyone, for any reason, at any time.
In settings you should be able to tap 'Change Pin' and that way you can change the four digit pin that you use to unlock the app.
If you want to change your password, at the moment you'll need to:
You must be based in New Zealand to download the app.
If you are then just make sure that your app store is also set to New Zealand in the ‘Country and Profiles’ section of either the Google Play or App Store app.
No - the app is designed so that you don't have to log out when you are finished using it. You set a four digit pin when logging in. Instead of logging out, just close the app and when you reopen it you'll just need to enter the pin.
The app remains secure without requiring all your log in details again.
To request an update/change of your name on your Sugar account, please email us at hello@sugarwallet.com with the attached documentary evidence of your change of name (e.g. marriage certificate, birth certificate etc). In some circumstances, we may be required to request further documentary evidence.
You are able to view your transaction history via the app by navigating to the three line menu bar > and selecting ‘Transaction History’. However, currently you are unable to download your transaction history - in the interim while we are building this functionality out you can request a copy of your transaction history via email at hello@sugarwallet.com.
Email us at hello@sugarwallet.com and we can delete your account and personal details.
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