{"id":560136,"date":"2026-08-05T21:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/560136\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T21:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:18:09","slug":"invest-nz-axes-us-europe-staff-and-drops-active-investor-plus-visa-roadshows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/560136\/","title":{"rendered":"Invest NZ axes US, Europe staff and drops Active Investor Plus visa roadshows"},"content":{"rendered":"

The networking events were popular with New Zealand companies seeking to cement connections with visa applicants, however, they were also a sore point<\/a> for companies approved for AIP investment that say they were prevented from attending. <\/p>\n

In response to an Official Information request, Invest NZ confirmed that not a single such company attended a networking event since the visa scheme\u2019s relaunch. In that time, three dozen managed funds attended the events, many of them multiple times. <\/p>\n

\"NewNew Zealand’s revised AIP visa scheme drew more than $1.4 billion in investment into the country in its first 12 months, with the single largest share flowing to managed funds of private credit.<\/p>\n

In Europe and North America, the work of maintaining an ongoing connection to visa applicants and easing their application process was largely undertaken by four staffers based in the United States and one in London. These positions were eliminated last month. <\/p>\n

An Invest NZ spokeswoman said the agency will engage with applicants and prospective investors in key markets, including the US, Europe and the UK, \u201cthrough a combination of globally mobile investment specialists, targeted in-market activity, and support from New Zealand-based teams\u201d. <\/p>\n

She said there has been a net reduction of four overseas positions, and eight staff remain offshore. They appear to be centred in Asia. <\/p>\n

China and Hong Kong account for a rising proportion of AIP visa holders. <\/p>\n

Among those surprised by the changes was Andrew Ryan, a partner and tax law adviser at MinterEllisonRuddWatts. <\/p>\n

Ryan, who joined Invest NZ events in the US last year, said the system was working well: \u201cThe feedback we\u2019ve gotten from AIP applicants and investors is that that personal connection in-country on an ongoing basis has been very valuable to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan said the risk in reducing offshore staff and events is that AIP applicant numbers may fall, with a knock-on effect on the managed funds, into which the bulk of AIP investment has flowed. <\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul Carman, a co-founder of Private Capital Group, said his firm’s private credit funds are largely owned by AIP investors but the company guards against a run on redemptions in a variety of ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree years in, a lot of those investors are going to want to get their money out. The managed funds are essentially illiquid. Their liquidity often relies on new money coming in,\u201d Ryan warned. <\/p>\n

He said a slowdown in new investment would risk funds\u2019 ability to fund withdrawals, something that could damage the reputation of the whole scheme. <\/p>\n

AIP visas cover two categories: \u201cbalanced\u201d, which requires $10 million to be invested relatively conservatively over five years, and \u201cgrowth\u201d, which requires $5m to be invested in more risky assets over three years, either sunk directly into companies outside the stock exchange or invested through managed funds. Philanthropy is also an option but as yet it remains unused<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The growth category visa has been by far the most popular. <\/p>\n

Immigration adviser Richard Howard, managing director of Pathways, also questioned the rationale for Invest NZ\u2019s changes. <\/p>\n

He emphasised that the US is the most meaningful AIP market and a significant reduction in applicants would make an outsized dent in the scheme\u2019s popularity. <\/p>\n

\u201cQueries come in to the Invest NZ website and in the past were sent out to staff on the ground to follow up: what are they going to do now, follow up with a mass email? These aren\u2019t the sort of people who expect to do things that way.\u201d <\/p>\n

Not all companies connected to the AIP scheme are worried about the changes. <\/p>\n

Paul Carmen, co-founder of Private Capital Group (PCG), saw the change as a natural evolution. He pointed out that Invest NZ is young and said its approach to AIP is maturing alongside the scheme itself. <\/p>\n

He pointed to the rationing of space on Invest NZ\u2019s events and said the new approach may prove more egalitarian. <\/p>\n

Carmen has also attended Invest NZ events and investment in PCG\u2019s two private credit managed funds is predominantly from AIP visa holders. <\/p>\n

He said his firm guards against the risk of a run on withdrawals in a variety of ways, including through cash holdings, the liquidity profile of the underlying loan portfolio, and investor relations work to understand its investor base. <\/p>\n

He also said it\u2019s fair to say that \u201cany fund which relies solely on AIP for liquidity might well have an adverse impact were AIP inflows to stop\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"AlwynAlwyn Poole is chief executive of Education 710+, a company approved for direct AIP investment. He thought Invest NZ was unfairly “picking and choosing” which companies it took on its golden visa networking events. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

Invest NZ <\/p>\n

Invest NZ is an autonomous Crown entity that was carved out of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. Its main job is to facilitate foreign direct investment and its first permanent chief executive, Robert Wall, took up the reins early this year. <\/p>\n

The entity has recently adopted a new operating model, which the spokeswoman said enables it to \u201cdeploy resources more flexibly around investor demand and opportunity, ensuring investors continue to receive high-quality support regardless of location\u201d.<\/p>\n

She stressed that AIP\u2019s success has been driven by a variety of factors, including the attractiveness of the visa rules, and is not dependent on individual offshore offices. <\/p>\n

The agency\u2019s formal statement of responsibility notes that it administers the Growth Category of the AIP visa scheme and has stewardship of investor migrants to maximise the benefit to New Zealand. <\/p>\n

The trouble with events <\/p>\n

Many of the Invest NZ networking events, particularly through the US, have been well attended, however, they have also prompted criticism. <\/p>\n

Invest NZ has spent roughly $300,000 on them and some companies approved for AIP investment said they\u2019ve been prevented from attending. <\/p>\n

However, managed funds have been very well represented, alongside investment advisers, immigration advisers, lawyers and relocation services.<\/p>\n

Invest NZ previously said that 10 AIP approved companies<\/a> attended its events since the beginning of 2025, but it has subsequently become clear that this attendance relates only to New Zealand-based events run before the scheme\u2019s relaunch, aimed at informing local companies of the changes. <\/p>\n

Managed funds have received the lion\u2019s share of AIP investment to date, while companies seeking direct investment have received very little. <\/p>\n

The reasons for this appear to centre on investors\u2019 twin interest in the preservation of capital and in the liquidity offered by private credit funds and the ability to cash out when their three-year, required investment period ends. <\/p>\n

This preference for passive investment is at odds with the Government\u2019s message that the visas are connecting Kiwi firms to talented foreigners<\/a>, who, through their skills and contacts, are helping them to grow and take their products to the world.<\/p>\n

Invest NZ has insisted its AIP events were not held to connect New Zealand companies with prospective investors and were aimed at promoting the programme more generally. <\/p>\n

However, even Immigration Minister Erica Stanford noticed the absence of individual companies seeking investment at the networking events she attended. <\/p>\n

She previously told the Herald she asked Invest NZ to do more to \u201cshowcase\u201d AIP-approved companies, but she met with no success. <\/p>\n

The AIP scheme is Stanford\u2019s responsibility, however much of its operation happens within Invest NZ, which is overseen, at arm\u2019s length, by Trade Minister Todd McClay.<\/p>\n

Stanford\u2019s office directed the Herald\u2019s questions about Invest NZ for this story to McClay. <\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The networking events were popular with New Zealand companies seeking to cement connections with visa applicants, however, they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[31389,50374,95,31951,23607,74186,34310,138,13251,28796,2024,275658,71,23834,15472,5933,321,275657,111,139,69,26108,6695,112824,275656,1516,7563,3040,10708,17454,102],"class_list":["post-560136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-abandoned","tag-active","tag-and","tag-applicants","tag-approach","tag-attracting","tag-axes","tag-business","tag-connect","tag-drops","tag-europe","tag-europebased","tag-from","tag-golden","tag-invest","tag-investor","tag-investors","tag-jettisoned","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-plus","tag-regions","tag-roadshow","tag-roadshows","tag-staff","tag-those","tag-us","tag-visa","tag-whose","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}