Foreign ownership of companies listed on the New Zealand sharemarket has risen to its highest level in more than five years, as investors chase high returns to counter rock-bottom interest rates.
Photo: NZX / Supplied
The JBWere Foreign Ownership Survey showed foreign investors held 36.3 percent of New Zealand listed companies, up from 32.6 percent last year.
New Zealand ownership of shares has fallen to 23 percent from nearly 27 percent last year.
Bernard Doyle, head of JB Were's investment strategy, said foreign fund managers looking for strong returns have been behind the increased ownership.
"New Zealand's relatively high-yielding equity market has been a key beneficiary of the global 'hunt for yield' in recent years, which has driven the level of offshore ownership to its current level."
However, he said it was likely the level of foreign ownership might ease off now that interest rates were rising around the world and official "easy money" policies were coming to an end.
The fall in New Zealand ownership was put down to an increase in the number of corporate bond issues and a decrease in share floats. Local ownership rose in 2013/14 when the government pushed through with its partial privatisations on top major floats such as Z Energy.
Foreign ownership in New Zealand compared with 46 percent in Australia, but only 30 percent in Japan and 15 percent in the United States.
The value of local sharemarket also increased last year to its best level since 2000, rising to 41 percent of the value of the economy from 37 percent the year before.