US President Donald Trump is a big fan of crypto. Photo / Getty Images
United States President Donald Trump wants to open up the US retirement market to cryptocurrency investment. Should New Zealand follow suit?
Trump last week signed an executive order to free up the US$9 trillion ($15t) US retirement market to cryptocurrency investments, private equity and other alternative investments, such as property deals.
The order instructs US regulators to re-examine and clarify existing regulations to allow for the investments to be included in professionally managed funds used by about 90 million US savers for the US equivalent to KiwiSaver – 401k plans.
The move is expected to fuel the growth of the private capital industry, which has sought new sources of capital, and open crypto investments to US retirement savings accounts, the Financial Times reported.
Digital investment platform Swyftx – New Zealand’s biggest – said a $36,500 investment ($10 per day) in Bitcoin over the past decade would be worth about $2.8 million today.
In contrast, the same investment in a typical balanced KiwiSaver fund would likely have grown to $65,000–$70,000, according to Swyftx’s numbers.
Swyftx chief executive Jason Titman said there was a case for long-term investors to include crypto in their portfolios.
“We’re not about saying that people should put all of their money into crypto by any stretch,” Titman told Stock Takes.
“We’re saying that it is an asset class that’s here to stay.
“It’s a growing asset class, and the beta – the returns – are pretty significant.
“So for a small portion, 3 to 5% of your portfolio, we think it’s good for investors to have the conversation and give them the opportunity to access that asset class with those higher returns.”
In New Zealand, there’s nothing to stop KiwiSaver managers getting involved in crypto, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) says.
The FMA’s executive director licensing and conduct supervision, Clare Bolingford, said: “In New Zealand, there is no legislative restriction stopping KiwiSaver fund managers from investing in crypto.
“Indeed, some fund managers already offer KiwiSaver funds that are partially invested into crypto (such as Bitcoin),” she said in response to a Herald inquiry.
“However, fund managers must comply with disclosure rules to ensure investors understand the types of assets that the fund can invest into,” Bolingford said.
“Additionally, KiwiSaver fund managers must act with the care, diligence and skill of a prudent manager.
“KiwiSaver fund managers predominately offer funds that invest in less volatile assets, like shares and bonds, rather than crypto.
“Those fund managers that offer KiwiSaver funds with an exposure to crypto often significantly limit the exposure to crypto (for example, to 10% of assets under management).
“This is likely because crypto assets are highly volatile, have more custody risks and often necessitate more rebalancing.
“Additionally, high exposure to crypto may not always be suitable for investment funds, like KiwiSaver, that are designed for retirement.”
Trump’s moves to try to loosen up what the US retirement savings industry can and can’t do have not gone unnoticed in the local funds management industry.
“We’ve been following the developments in the US, and have seen the moves by the Trump administration to make it easier to invest in private markets and cryptocurrencies,” Fisher Funds chief investment officer Ashley Gardyne said.
He said Fisher Funds was always on the lookout for opportunities and saw private equity as being well-suited to KiwiSaver.
“The longer-term nature of KiwiSaver also aligns well to the timeframe of private market investments,” Gardyne said.
Across the Tasman, some Australian superannuation funds have 20% allocations to private markets, compared to about 2% in KiwiSaver.
Fisher Funds had earmarked more than a billion dollars over the next three to five years for its wider private equity strategy, with several hundred million dollars for New Zealand businesses.
“On the other hand, we’re less certain that there is a place for cryptocurrencies in mass-market retirement portfolios,” Gardyne said.
“While some investors may choose to invest in this space, we prefer to invest in assets that generate cashflows – like listed companies, fixed income securities and private equity.
“It is very difficult to determine an intrinsic value for cryptocurrencies – and it is therefore more speculative in our view."
Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager Shane Solly said that for investors, diversification was key.
“It’s reasonable for long-term investors to include an allocation to alternative assets such as real estate, venture capital, credit, commodities and cryptocurrency as part of a diversified portfolio, as these assets can provide returns that are less correlated with more traditional assets and the broader economy,” Solly said.
Morningstar says Spark’s sale of its majority interest in data centres to Australia’s Pacific Equity Partners should calm investor nerves about the telco.
The research firm maintains its $3.60-per-share, fair-value estimate for Spark, against yesterday’s opening price of $2.56.
“We make no changes to our forecasts, with the completion of the data centre portfolio sale not expected until the end of 2025,” it said.
“Shares in the group remain at an attractive discount to our intrinsic assessment.
“Investor caution is understandable, given the three downgrades to earnings guidance over the past 18 months.
“Tangible evidence of cost-outs is needed with the upcoming result to assuage such caution.”
However, the data centres had been monetised at a good price, especially compared with the $200m-$220m capital Morningstar estimated Spark has pumped into building them since fiscal year 2021.
“The proceeds should go a long way toward calming investor nerves about the balance sheet,” Morningstar said.
Brokers Forsyth Barr expects Ebos Group to exceed consensus earnings expectations when it reports on Wednesday.
At its first-half result, Ebos posted a lower half-year profit after losing a $2 billion contract to supply Chemist Warehouse (CW) Australia.
“While ebitda [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] will be down versus the prior year, it should be near or above the top end of its guidance [A$600m], reflecting solid performance excluding the CW contract loss,” it said.
Adam Hall was installed as new chief executive at Ebos on July 1.
“It’s too early for any shift in messaging or strategy, but we expect clear/confident communication (if provided) would reassure investors, particularly on M&A [mergers and acquisitions],” Forsyth Barr said.
French dairy giant Lactalis is the leading bidder for Fonterra’s Australian food business after being granted exclusivity to negotiate for a buyout, the Australian Financial Review reported this week.
If successful, the deal will lead to a major shake-up of the country’s agricultural sector, the paper said.
Lactalis – the world’s biggest dairy company – is on the acquisition trail.
In July, the firm’s US arm bought General Mills’ US yoghurt business.
The acquired business represents approximately US$1.2b in annual net sales.
“This acquisition advances our US growth strategy and strengthens our position as an emerging leader in the US yogurt market,” the company said then.
Stats NZ said the volume of ready-mixed concrete (RMC) produced was 891,909 cubic metres in the June quarter, down 10% compared with the year-ago quarter.
In the year ended June 2025, 3.7 million cubic metres of RMC was produced, down 6.0% compared with the year ended June 2024.
Forsyth Barr noted Fletcher Building (FBU) had started to release quarterly volume data, which included its Firth ready-mix concrete volumes.
FBU’s Firth RMC concrete volumes were down 2% on the prior year, compared to national 12-month rolling volumes which were down 6%.
This suggests that Firth had managed to consolidate market share over the quarter, the broker said.
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets, the primary sector and energy. He joined the Herald in 2011.