Good News for Active Investor Plus (AIP) Growth Category Investors and New Zealand Businesses

Under the AIP Growth Category, applicants can invest the required NZ$5 million only in Invest New Zealand (InvestNZ)-approved Managed Funds and Direct Investments. It is therefore pleasing to see that InvestNZ has once again started publishing approved Direct Investments on its website, alongside the existing list of approved Managed Funds.

While InvestNZ has continued to publish information on all approved managed funds, information on approved direct investments was removed from public view in October 2025. As a result, intending AIP applicants and their advisers have since only had visibility of the managed fund options.

This created a challenge for New Zealand companies that had invested significant time and resources to obtain InvestNZ approval as an acceptable direct investment. Although approved, these companies had very limited market visibility compared with managed funds. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that direct investments have, to date, attracted only around NZ$20 million of AIP investment, compared with the approximately NZ$725 million invested into managed funds.

The reintroduction of publicly available direct investment opportunities is an important and welcome development. It recognises that many investor migrants may wish to contribute more than just capital. Some are highly successful entrepreneurs, business owners, technology founders, industry specialists, and senior executives who are keen to take an equity stake in a business that aligns with their expertise, interests, and networks. Through direct investment, these investors can potentially contribute strategic guidance, international connections, market access, governance expertise, and growth capital to ambitious New Zealand businesses. For some applicants, the opportunity to become actively involved in a company operating within their own sector may be a more attractive proposition than investing solely through managed funds.

At the time of writing, the InvestNZ website shows approximately 35 approved direct investments, however, only those direct investments whose promoters have agreed to public disclosure currently appear on the website. There are 65 approved managed funds currently listed – this is also a dynamic list with funds being added and removed on a regular basis.

The publication of approved direct investments also helps further the original policy intent of attracting not only foreign capital, but also the skills, experience, international networks, and commercial expertise that successful investors can bring to New Zealand businesses. Greater transparency benefits everyone involved in the AIP ecosystem. Investors gain more choice, advisers can better match clients with opportunities aligned to their backgrounds and interests, and New Zealand businesses gain improved access to international capital, expertise, and commercial networks.