NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Investor philosophical after latest disaster destroys daughter's nest egg

By Patrick Gower
4 Dec, 2007 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Australian Graeme Shaw is hoping for some recompense. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Australian Graeme Shaw is hoping for some recompense. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Have you been stung by a finance company?
Email the Herald Newsdesk

KEY POINTS:

When Capital + Merchant went bust, it took an $11,000 nest egg for Graeme Shaw's teenage daughter with it.

Mr Shaw was shocked, but sadly not surprised: the family had already lost a $132,000 investment when Bridgecorp went bust in July.

But even to be hit twice in
the spate of finance company collapses pales in comparison to the $320,000 the Shaws spent repairing the leaky Epsom home they bought off the plans seven years ago.

Despite the "triple whammy", Mr Shaw was philosophical yesterday, saying they were not naive investors, but rather unfortunate "victims of circumstance".

He said the family's discussions about the losses to the Bridgecorp collapse and leaky home meant 14-year-old Laura had a better understanding about what happened to her money at Capital + Merchant when they broke the news last week.

She was a "good little saver", putting aside money given in gifts by grandparents and others since she was born.

Mr Shaw, an automation engineer, had put the money with Capital + Merchant on her behalf.

After the Bridgecorp collapse he had been hoping to get Laura's money out when the term deposit matured next year.

"Then we got the call from our financial adviser and I just said: 'Don't tell me ... "' Mr Shaw had naturally agreed to cover Laura's losses but the family were still "absolutely gutted".

Both finance company investments were made following advice from a financial planner, who Mr Shaw did not want named and did not blame.

They had been "100 per cent happy" with the returns until the Bridgecorp collapse.

Mr Shaw was hopeful of getting some money back from Bridgecorp eventually, with the loss particularly hurtful because it was to provide income protection in case his IT consultant wife, Maureen, an arthritis sufferer, ever needed to take time off work.

He also hoped to get some recompense from the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service early next year.

An Australian who moved here 20 years ago and is married to a New Zealander, Mr Shaw admitted to having a "bitter Kiwi taste in his mouth" for the moment.

His advice to those who had money invested with finance companies was simple: "Get your money out."

TRIPLE WHAMMY

Shaw family losses:

* $11,000 in the Capital + Merchant collapse

* $132,000 in the Bridgecorp collapse

* $320,000 to repair leaky home

CONTACT THE BANK

Customers of ill-fated finance company Capital + Merchant should get in touch with their banks immediately if they find investment payouts mysteriously reversed from their accounts.

Banking Ombudsman Liz Brown told the Herald yesterday she could do little to help investors who had not first tried through their banks to recover lost earnings.

Her comments come after it was revealed that a number of Capital + Merchant customers had seen mature investments paid into their bank accounts suddenly taken back as the company found itself in financial strife.

One St Heliers woman, who did not wish to be named, told the Herald she had received a payment of $5493 into her ASB account on November 26, only to find it reversed on November 28. When she contacted her bank, she was told the payment had been "dishonoured".

Bankers Association chief executive Alan Yates said last night that banks were limited in what they could do after receivers were put in charge of a company's finances. A cheque or payment could be stopped at any stage. David Eames

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Politics

Journalist Oriini Kaipara seeking Te Pāti Māori candidacy for Tāmaki Makaurau seat

07 Jul 02:17 AM
New Zealand

13 emerging designers shine: Resene awards spotlight student talent

07 Jul 02:03 AM
New ZealandUpdated

Support worker filmed vulnerable woman being taunted, then shared the video

07 Jul 02:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Journalist Oriini Kaipara seeking Te Pāti Māori candidacy for Tāmaki Makaurau seat

Journalist Oriini Kaipara seeking Te Pāti Māori candidacy for Tāmaki Makaurau seat

07 Jul 02:17 AM

Kaipara is the first person to publicly announce she will be putting herself forward.

13 emerging designers shine: Resene awards spotlight student talent

13 emerging designers shine: Resene awards spotlight student talent

07 Jul 02:03 AM
Support worker filmed vulnerable woman being taunted, then shared the video

Support worker filmed vulnerable woman being taunted, then shared the video

07 Jul 02:00 AM
Lego Masters Australia: Grandmasters of the Galaxy  - Trailer

Lego Masters Australia: Grandmasters of the Galaxy - Trailer

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP