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.
Premium
Home / Business

Why the ASX keeps pinching our companies

Jamie Gray
By Jamie Gray
Business Reporter·NZ Herald·
29 Nov, 2019 04:41 AM4 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

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

ASX chief executive Dominic Stevens (left) and the head of the ASX listings, Blair Harrison. Photo / Supplied

ASX chief executive Dominic Stevens (left) and the head of the ASX listings, Blair Harrison. Photo / Supplied

Accounting software company Xero controversially ditched its NZX listing at the end of last year in favour of the ASX.

Clearly, it hasn't done the stock any harm; since then, the stock almost doubled in price to A$82.28 ($86.60).

READ MORE:
• Brian Gaynor: Takeovers are thinning out the
NZX
• How $3.5b will be stripped from our sharemarket this year
• Rod Drury: Why Xero is leaving the NZX

ASX chief executive Dominic Stevens says that the Australian exchange - which opened a New Zealand office in June - feels it has a lot to offer aspiring Kiwi companies looking for global reach.

So why does the ASX keep pinching our companies?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We see it more like that we are providing capital for those companies, so I see it from a more positive point of view," Stevens told the Herald in an interview in Auckland.

"It's an additive thing, rather than anything else," he said.

"They are looking for growth capital and I think that they saw the ASX as a way of actually raising growth capital and that's worked for them."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Kiwi companies looking to list were seeking out the lowest cost of capital that they could find, so adding an ASX listing opens them up to a much bigger base of investors, he says.

Ninety per cent of the Australian market has a mandate to invest in Australia-listed companies. "If they are dual listed, they get the benefit of that."

Max Cunningham, ASX's head of listings, said when companies become dual listed, their turnover on the NZX usually goes up.

"We sell ASX as a capital market," he said.

"What we offer is size of capital - one of the indirect benefits of that is access to one of the key global benchmark indices - the S&P ASX 200.

"How companies want to access that capital is up to them," Cunningham says.

"What we are selling is very pro New Zealand - getting capital into the country, particularly for some of the smaller companies.

"For the larger companies, if they have access to a larger pool, they should be lowering their future cost of capital.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"That means it is easier for them to raise future capital and hopefully stay out of private ownership," Cunningham says.

The ASX offers investors a different culture, particularly around risk.

Aussie investors are well-versed in the risks of fledgling stocks that may or may not succeed.

New Zealand has 55 stocks on the ASX. Photo / AP
New Zealand has 55 stocks on the ASX. Photo / AP

Take West Australia's Fortescue Metals - a tiny company that started in 2003, discovered the biggest bedrock iron ore deposit in Australia, and which is now the world's fourth biggest iron ore producer.

Stevens says Australia's markets "have a quality that tends to run to backing ventures".

"It comes from having a mining background so people put up $10 million to dig a hole and there might be nothing at the bottom of that hole.

"There is a culture that is looking to invest that actually might not produce a 5 or 10 per cent return, but double or triple - but there are risks to that.

"I think that we are attracting growth-oriented companies from around the world."

Kiwi companies aspiring to list on the ASX tended to have global ambitions while the Australian companies tended to have a domestic focus.

"There are a whole bunch of investors who are looking for the safe and sound - the blue chips - but there is also an investor base that is actually quite focused on growth companies - the companies that might be looking to raise $10m off a market cap of $100m," Stevens says.

There was also a broking community who were willing to advise, work with, and research the smaller companies.

He says a lot of capital from the Australian superannuation system finds its way into dual listed Kiwi stocks through the dual listing process.

As it stands, New Zealand has the biggest number of stocks - 55 - on the ASX. The US follows with 46, followed by Israel (20), Singapore (17), Malaysia (10) and Canada (10).

The total market cap of Kiwi companies on the ASX is A$107 billion (NZ$112.7b), about 4.5 per cent of total ASX.

There are seven NZ companies contained within the S&P/ASX 200 index.

The ASX has also run electricity derivatives in New Zealand since 2009 and has operated the former NZ Futures and Options Exchange since the 1990s.

The exchange also runs the NZ 90 Day Bank Bill Futures contract.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Business

Premium
Retail

HelloFresh pleads guilty after ‘subscription traps’ tricked customers

Business

Former Auckland accountant gets community detention for $94k Covid loan fraud

Airlines

Regional airline grounded for 10 days by Civil Aviation Authority


Sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Premium
HelloFresh pleads guilty after ‘subscription traps’ tricked customers
Retail

HelloFresh pleads guilty after ‘subscription traps’ tricked customers

The devious policy targeted former customers but left a key detail out.

14 Jul 03:51 AM
Former Auckland accountant gets community detention for $94k Covid loan fraud
Business

Former Auckland accountant gets community detention for $94k Covid loan fraud

14 Jul 03:47 AM
Regional airline grounded for 10 days by Civil Aviation Authority
Airlines

Regional airline grounded for 10 days by Civil Aviation Authority

14 Jul 03:12 AM


Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
Sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

15 May 12:00 PM
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