"We do have a vibrant capital markets at the moment which is open to good quality listings and three or four years ago that wasn't the case."
He believes the NZX and capital markets industry need to focus on mid-sized companies and ensure they don't get sold offshore. "The industry needs to keep pushing to bring companies to market and increase its width and depth. He reckons it needs to broaden away from the focus on energy stocks to keep the money here otherwise more of it will flow further afield to Australia and further offshore.
That is a less difficult task in an environment where market sentiment is positive and there is a switch from investors predominantly focusing on pure income or yield, to focus on growth. But Aldridge says there's still a lot of investor cash sitting on the sidelines in bank deposits and on call with banks when there could be quite high positive momentum.
"They're starting to be more conscious of where they put their money and how it is returned."
Scott St John Managing Director First NZ Capital
Scott St John has his thinking hat on about how the Government could recapitalise another state-owned enterprise - Landcorp - to create an agricultural vehicle that could invest not just in New Zealand but also offshore.
It's a bit like MOM Mark two. But instead of the Government issuing shares to raise capital to fund new social infrastructure, like schools or hospitals, the funds raised would give Landcorp the wherewithal to invest in agricultural land or other assets. The Government would own 51 per cent. But the investment should be suited for large pension funds, which would be long-term investors.
St John says the Government could continue to own it - but if it moved to the front foot the asset could be grown. "Would you want to own 100 per cent of $10 or 20 per cent of $500?"
The investment banker is disappointed the electricity policy debate reduced the number of New Zealanders who would otherwise have been involved in the MOM privitisations. "I think that is a great shame. It's just been a waste and it didn't need to be."
But he is excited about the financial markets outlook ("I'm a half-full guy") and observes there is now a renewed regional focus which "will deliver a more tailored suite of clients in our part of the world - I see that as a good thing. Companies that are doing smart things will attract the attention of capital providers and investors."
He says there is now much more research coverage of listed stocks in New Zealand, which is a plus.
St John is actively engaged in Australia, focusing on companies outside the ASX 100 - where the companies look a bit like NZ market. "From our perspective we're broadening our footprint to create a win-win."
David Green Managing Director Institutional, ANZ New Zealand
David Green says it's easy to tell a positive story to offshore investors who well understand the New Zealand story. "They get the agriculture story, the demand for food and New Zealand's unique position to deliver on it. How well it underpins the economy. And the strong initiatives around infrastructure and capital markets They get the broader story and that gives them comfort around the industry they are looking to invest in."
Green says though offshore investors continue to like New Zealand, the announcement of the recent $1 billion sale of Carter Holt Harvey pulp, paper and packaging business to a joint venture between Oji Holdings and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan illustrates that investment is now coming from a broader region, not just Australia and China. New Zealand's relative positioning to Australia has also strengthened. "We used to be dwarfed by Australia around their hard commodities story but as New Zealand remained strong people looked at why that was. It's food and how New Zealand built its position on FTAs and access.
"The strong relationships where the Government has supported business to engage internationally stands out. New Zealand's in a pretty good space. I ran the ANZ global relationship banking business for the last five months. The tone is positive globally but come back to New Zealand I think we're in a really good space."
The debt capital markets remain pretty strong helped by the continuing strong demand for Kauri Issuance. "It's not just a New Zealand dollar story but it's a New Zealand issuer story that we are benefiting from." It's back to business for the bank's biggest corporate issuers. After the GFC, ANZ ran major roadshows offshore. But confidence in the corporates has now strengthened as they access Asian liquidity pools.
