The SME Stream

New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters says he wasn't dragged kicking and screaming into a new foreign investors deal.  The Government’s approved changes to allow people with an investor residence visa to buy or build one home, starting at $5 million.  They’re required to invest an extra $5 million into the economy to qualify.  Peters told Mike Hosking he supports the c...

There's hopes the promised 1,000 new jobs created from Amazon's locally based data centres will go to Kiwis. The tech giant's investing $7.5 billion into the Auckland-based centres, which go live today. It'll mean New Zealand customers can use the new cloud region to run workloads and store data locally. Amazon Web Services country manager Manuel Bohnet says they're taking a long-term view with th...

The growing volume of purchases from the likes of Shein and Temu are hitting New Zealand’s import economy hard.  Stats New Zealand has revised the National Accounts, with imports down $2.5 billion in the June quarter.  The average value of parcels has dropped sharply, driven by fast fashion and cheap e-commerce.   Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young told Mike Hosking a lot more people...

Stats NZ came out with the latest trade data for New Zealand - and the results show good news for exporters. Exports were up 9.9 percent in the year to June and imports were up 3.2 percent. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham explained further. LISTEN ABOVE The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the p...

Is this a turning point for the wine industry?  Data shows export volumes are expected to grow 4% to 285 million litres in the year to June 2025.  Export revenue is also forecast to lift to $2.4 billion by 2029.  Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers CEO Brent Linn told Mike Hosking Hawke’s Bay is more domestically focused, with production to export only representing 25% of their mark...

It's no secret that the cost of living has gone a bit crazy these past few years, but insurance seems to be one of the hardest hit. Insurance prices have increased 900% since 2000 - almost triple the increase of tobacco products.  LISTEN ABOVE The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts...

Chris Bishop has openly called for house prices to fall, saying we need to be channeling more money into the economy rather than having it locked up in housing.  The Prime Minister says we need modest and consistent increases in property prices, to ensure the economy is growing.  So what is actually best for New Zealand and the economy?  CEO of The Property Lifestyle, Nichole Lewis,...

Overflowing wardrobe? It might be worth more than you think. Aidan Bartlett, CEO of Designer Wardrobe, joins Nadine to talk about the booming second-hand fashion market. From unlocking the $1000 sitting idle in your closet to sellers making tens of thousands, resale is growing five times faster than traditional retail. Aidan reveals the secrets to getting the best price for your clothes, the...

Macquarie Technology Group stores 42% of the Australian Federal Government’s information in its data centres. Its CEO and Founder says that makes them a critical target in this geopolitical environment. The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or i...

Kiwis have racked up more than a billion dollars in green loans for energy efficient items like EVs, solar panels, and heat pumps.  BNZ, ASB, and ANZ all lend up to $80 thousand on a 1% interest rate over three years.  Massey University Banking Expert Claire Matthews says these are small loans, meaning the banks are pumping them out, while not actually lending a huge amount.  She to...

Chinese investment in New Zealand is growing, but slowly.  The New Zealand China Council’s annual report shows China ranks 12th as a source of foreign investment in New Zealand, providing less than 1% of total inflows.  Investment grew 9% a year between 2014 and 2024, but has flat lined since 2019.  NZIER Principal Economist Chris Nixon told Ryan Bridge the problem is that inv...

As business owners, you know how hard it is keeping up with your business, let alone the news. Join Wilhelmina Shrimpton each week as she gives you a rundown of the biggest stories that could impact on your business, so you can make informed decisions with expert advice.   This week, another day another visa, the government ramps up efforts to attract more foreign investment, our economy is s...

A new visa to attract businesspeople to New Zealand has been established by the Government, and really, it's only a matter of days, perhaps weeks, before a loosening on restrictions for foreigners being able to purchase residential property here is announced. Christopher Luxon, the Prime Minister, when he was last in-studio with me, said we’ll be announcing that shortly. I said you’ll...

More money could soon circulate through the economy as the Government opens up the country to more overseas businesspeople.    Under its new Business Investor Visa, foreign investors who put at least $2 million into a Kiwi business will be granted a 12-month fast-track to residence pathway.  People who invest $1 million will be given a three-year work-to-residence option.  ABC...

It's been revealed the Reserve Bank chairman sent a warning letter to Treasury in the wake of Adrian Orr's resignation. Neil Quigley warned that it would  'immediately destroy the goodwill' between the two entities if it publicly released details of the fateful meeting. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further. LISTEN ABOVE The podcasts in the SME Stream contain...

The state of the US Federal Reserve has always prompted responses from financial markets, but recent actions from the Trump administration have raised eyebrows. Trump recently came out and said he was going to fire Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook earlier in the week. Milford Asset Management's Andrew Curtayne unpacked the market reactions  LISTEN ABOVE  The podcasts in the SME Str...

More foreign investors could soon flock in to work hard on Kiwi businesses.   The Government's new Business Investor Visa will give foreign businesspeople who invest at least $2 million into an existing Kiwi business a fast-track to residency.  If a business is worth $2 million, the applicant would have to buy it, and if it's worth more, they'd have to invest at least a quarter of its to...

Belief an improving gender pay gap is due to a weaker labour market. Stats NZ's revealed the difference in pay between women and men fell to 5.2% in the June quarter - its lowest point to date A year ago, it was 8.2%. Mind the Gap co-founder Dellwyn Stuart told Ryan Bridge the number will likely go back up as the economy improves and more part-time jobs become available again for women. She says t...

Lower mortgage rates and income growth have helped improve housing affordability.  Cotality NZ’s new report finds the national value-to-income ratio reached its lowest point since mid-2019 in the June quarter, at 7.5%.   National property values also remain almost 17% below their post-covid peak.  Cotality Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson told Mike Hosking mortgage ser...

A build-up of industry income changes could have driven the pay gap between men and women to a historic low.  The pay gap for the June quarter is sitting at 5.2 percent, down from the 8.2 percent seen a year ago. It's the smallest margin seen since Stats NZ began collecting the data in 1998.  Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says sectors like transport, IT and finance have been...

As the global race to develop quantum computers heats up, New Zealand is working on specialist areas of technology that could add crucial elements to the quantum supply chain. That’s according to the University of Oxford’s Professor Andrew Daley, a principal investigator in the UK’s national quantum programme tasked with developing more accurate and functional quantum computers....

Do younger Kiwis still have that No.8 wire mentality?  While some are concerned the younger generation is settling as opposed to striving and investing in their ideas and futures, others believe the worry is unfounded.  Icehouse Ventures, a venture capital company that backs Kiwi startups, hosted their 15th Annual Showcase last week, in which nine Kiwi founders presented to over 1,500 in...

The number of people coming in on the Government's new Business Investor Visa could be limited.    It'll fast track residency for any foreign investors who put $2 million or more into a Kiwi business.  If a business is worth $2 million, the applicant will have to buy it, and they'll have to invest at least a quarter of its total value if it's worth more than that.  Immigration...

I think it would be very easy to push-back on Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson’s call for changes to the KiwiSaver scheme to make it easier for self-employed people to save for their retirement. But I’m not going to. She wants to see changes because people who work for themselves are contributing nowhere near as much as employees —partly because they don’t get the ben...

A view that new migrant tax rules will put us on par with other countries.  The Government's proposing a bill to stop migrants being taxed on estimated overseas income and instead, only what they actually earn.  Independent tax expert Geof Nightingale told Mike Hosking the current settings are a problem for high-value migrants, particularly now we have the Active Investor Plus scheme. &n...