Source: SFS Private Wealth
Billions of dollars attracted to New Zealand through the Active Investor Plus programme could be repatriated offshore from 2028 unless the country develops private banking infrastructure capable of competing with global wealth centres, with proposed tax changes alone unlikely to retain the capital, an international finance expert warns.
Dr Sharad Nair says New Zealand has successfully attracted a new generation of high-net-worth migrants through its golden visa programme, but risks losing a much larger opportunity to manage their wider global wealth as the first Growth-category investors begin reaching the end of their mandatory three-year investment periods.
His warning comes as Inland Revenue consults on how New Zealand’s tax-residency rules apply to AIP visa holders, with submissions set to close on October 13, and as proposed changes to the foreign investment fund regime progress through Parliament.
Dr Nair says greater tax certainty and more competitive tax settings are important, but will not be enough if New Zealand cannot provide wealthy migrants with private banking services comparable with those available internationally.
He says the challenge now is to turn the initial AIP investment into a much broader financial relationship with New Zealand.
“The fact is when due diligence is being done on these individuals, Immigration New Zealand knows what their wealth looks like and knows that only a small piece of it is coming in,” he says.
“From there on, you need to build platforms for them to interact with the opportunity.”
Dr Nair says the success of the revised visa has accelerated the arrival of globally mobile wealth faster than New Zealand’s private banking infrastructure might otherwise have developed, leaving the sector playing catch-up while the first investors move closer to the end of their compulsory investment periods.
Dr Nair, founder and board member of SFS Private Wealth and himself an AIP visa holder who has spent more than two decades in international private banking and was part of Dubai’s early development as a global wealth centre, says New Zealand’s strategy now needs to shift from attraction to retention.
Almost $5 billion has been committed or is progressing through the investment pipeline under the revised programme. Immigration New Zealand figures show $2.72 billion in capital had been committed and transferred by September 2, with a further $2.215 billion in the pipeline.
Growth-category applicants must invest at least $5 million for three years, while Balanced applicants must invest at least $10 million for five years. The revised settings came into effect in April 2025, meaning the first Growth-category investment periods can begin expiring from 2028.
SFS Wealth co-founder Sunny Nair says retaining the migrants and retaining their wealth are two different challenges.
“I think retaining people and retaining money are two different things,” he says.
“New Zealand sells itself really well… The question is, are we in a place to retain them as well as their money?”
Nair says many AIP investors see the mandatory investment as the cost of securing residency rather than the start of a wider financial relationship with New Zealand.
“Most people who come in on AIP don’t think of the $5 million or $10 million as an investment. They think of it as an expense,” he says.
“They’re saying, ‘I want to move to New Zealand. Where does the money need to go?’ Once that’s done, the box is ticked and they’ve moved.”
The larger economic opportunity, he says, lies in what happens to the remainder of their wealth.
“They have 50, they have 100, they have 500 million, whatever they have. How do I engage them into New Zealand Inc and have that money circulating in the NZ economy?
“Investor migrants typically have wealth well above the minimum visa thresholds, although there is limited public New Zealand data showing exactly how much additional capital they bring with them.
“What we do know is that the average investor migrant brings around 2.5 times the required investment into New Zealand,” he says.
Nair says capturing even a relatively small proportion of that additional wealth could materially increase the economic value of the programme without requiring New Zealand to attract another migrant.
He says New Zealand has already proved it can compete for wealthy migrants despite investors having access to golden visa programmes in jurisdictions such as Malta and Portugal, but the competitive landscape changes once they arrive.
When New Zealand seeks to attract more than the mandatory visa investment, it is competing with established wealth centres including Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, London and Switzerland, as well as some of the world’s largest private banks.
“Competition isn’t other wealth managers in New Zealand, it’s JP Morgan Private Banking, it’s UBS, it’s Julius Baer, it’s all these international institutions who are banking these clients on their home turf,” Nair says.
“Because the five million is a minimum requirement, to win any more money than that, you suddenly have to be competitive against some really big names and some really established competition.”
Dr Nair says New Zealand’s private wealth sector today reminds him of Dubai when he arrived there in 1996, before the emirate developed into a major international financial centre.
“When I moved into Dubai, the wealth management business in Dubai was pretty much what wealth management business today is in New Zealand,” he says.
At the time, wealthy Middle Eastern clients were commonly serviced by “briefcase bankers” flying in from London, Geneva and Zurich, before Dubai developed the institutions, specialist expertise and infrastructure needed to manage international wealth locally.
Dr Nair says New Zealand already has many of the ingredients needed to follow a similar path, including rule of law, low corruption, institutional stability and an international reputation for trust and safety.
“We could be known for our banks. We could be known for banking. We could be known as the world’s global hub for safety,” he says.
Nair says those attributes are the foundations on which financial centres such as Switzerland and Singapore have been built.
“The business of banking or the business of wealth management is the business of trust. So we’ve already got all the secret ingredients. We just need to put it together.”
Nair says New Zealand needs a broader private wealth sector capable of connecting international capital with investment opportunities here.
“We don’t just want to build a business, we want to build an industry,” he says.
“AIP is slightly more complicated because what it requires is a globally competitive ecosystem. New Zealand has it. It’s just fractured.”
Private banking provides wealthy individuals and families with highly tailored advice across areas such as global investment portfolios, lending, wealth structuring and succession planning, but the underlying assets do not all need to be invested in New Zealand.
An investor could hold assets across the US, Europe and Asia while their advice, portfolio management and wider banking relationship are based here, allowing New Zealand to participate in managing international wealth without requiring that capital to be invested solely in domestic assets.
SFS Private Wealth grew out of the Nair family’s own experience of relocating to New Zealand through investor migration and identifying a gap for the bespoke private wealth services available in established international financial centres.
“We’re missing the infrastructure and platforms needed to support this market. That’s really the gap we built SFS to help address,” Nair says.
Operating in the wealth management space since September 2025, the firm has grown to more than 20 staff, is working with dozens of AIP investors and says it has ‘significant assets’ under management.
SFS is also establishing an office in Dubai to take New Zealand investment opportunities directly to international investors, including those who have no intention of migrating here.
“We’re taking New Zealand opportunities right to their doorstep. Let’s sell it to them in their living room,” Nair says.
He says the longer-term opportunity is to attract global capital into and through New Zealand rather than limiting the market to investors seeking residency.
Dr Nair says competing for ultra-high-net-worth families also requires infrastructure beyond financial services, citing a recent conversation with a billionaire who had moved from London to Dubai and told him he had not considered New Zealand because he would be unable to bring the staff who manage his household and affairs.
“He said, ‘I have an entourage of people that look after me. I wouldn’t get work visas for them,’” Dr Nair says, adding that the investor has since bought a US$50 million villa in Dubai.
“We have visas for your pilot, your crew, your everyone, so they can continue. Singapore is also possible,” he says.
Dr Nair says the billionaire’s experience highlights the wider challenge facing New Zealand as it moves from attracting wealthy migrants to building long-term relationships with them.
Having successfully brought a new generation of international investors into the country, Dr Nair says the next test is whether New Zealand can retain their initial capital, capture a greater share of their global wealth and develop the infrastructure needed to compete with established international financial centres.
Nair says his own experience provides one example of the wider economic potential, with his required AIP investment followed by other investments in New Zealand and the establishment of SFS Wealth in Auckland.
The risk is that New Zealand fails to build those relationships before the first Growth-category investors reach the end of their mandatory investment periods, with Dr Nair saying Government can help create the right settings while the private sector develops the platforms and expertise needed to compete for that capital.
Having successfully attracted a new generation of wealthy international investors, Dr Nair says New Zealand’s next test will be whether it can retain their capital, capture a greater share of their global wealth and develop into an international centre for managing it.
Dr Sharad Nair
Dr Sharad Nair is founder and board member of SFS Private Wealth and has more than 20 years’ experience in international private banking. He has worked with institutions including Julius Baer, Barclays and Citibank across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe, advising sovereign funds, global corporates, multi-generational families and entrepreneurs. He is also involved with a number of international investment, philanthropic and entrepreneurial ventures and remains active in venture capital.
Sunny Nair
Sunny Nair is Associate Director, Offshore Wealth Management at SFS Private Wealth and was part of the firm’s foundation team. He has an international background spanning Singapore, Dubai and London and combines legal expertise with experience in cross-border investment and wealth management. He holds an LLB (Hons) from King’s College London and a Master of Laws in Corporate and Commercial Law from the University of Auckland. At SFS, he focuses on helping international clients and external asset managers use New Zealand as a base for global investment.
About SFS Wealth
SFS Private Wealth is a boutique New Zealand wealth management firm offering independent advice, global reach, and personalised strategies for high-net-worth individuals, offshore clients, and those relocating via investor visa programmes. The firm pairs world-class investment insight with agile, client-centric service. For more information, visit sfspw.co.nz