MEDIA RELEASE (NZ)

Chartered Accountants ANZ’s (CA ANZ) seventh annual investor confidence survey shows that domestic investors have increasing confidence in New Zealand’s capital markets and listed companies as more use AI to assist their decision making - but concerns about political unrest are growing.

CA ANZ surveyed nearly 550 New Zealand retail investors with more than $10,000 invested in the stock market and other investments, and for the first time in the survey’s history respondents were asked about their use of AI in making investments.

It shows that 79% of investors have confidence in New Zealand’s capital markets, up 6% on last year, and 80% have confidence in New Zealand companies that are publicly listed (such as on the NZX), up 4% on last year.

This contrasts with confidence in overseas capital markets dropping by 5% to 76% this year, with reasons for a lack of confidence dominated by fear of unstable or corrupt foreign governments up 15% on last year to 57% and fears of trade wars, up 30% to 55%.

And more than a third (36%) of New Zealand investors now use AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to make investment decisions and more than two thirds of those (76%) were satisfied with the information AI provided.

“Investors are telling us that their increasing confidence is fuelled by the belief that New Zealand’s economy historically bounces back, and that their personal financial situations are improving,” said CA ANZ Chief Executive Officer, Ainslie van Onselen.

“Domestically, inflation is still the primary concern, but that’s dropped by a massive 8%, while concern about the global political landscape is close behind, having increased by 6%. The next biggest concern is the impact of a trade war with 12% of respondents calling it the biggest risk.

“We can also see concerns about domestic politics, with 11% of respondents saying that domestic political unrest is the biggest risk to the New Zealand economy, up from 5% last year.

“Overall, despite the doom and gloom there are positive signs from investors, that they see value in New Zealand’s economy and they’re willing to invest domestically, rather than overseas.”

Investors using AI for advice – but trust is fragile

“Although more than a third of Kiwi investors used AI to make investment decisions, their trust is fragile. We found that 41% of investors who do not use AI do not trust the information it provides and 48% were more confident in other sources of information.

“While there’s a big chunk of investors using AI to gain information about the investment landscape, there’s clearly a lot of investors who aren’t sold on its integrity or usability.

“This highlights the importance of having high-quality and reliable financial data for training AI models, which in turn can support investors in making informed decisions,” continued Ms van Onselen.

Additional key findings relating to AI include:

• It’s more popular with young people: 64% of those aged 18-29 have used AI in their investment decision making.
• Male investors are more likely to use AI extensively (9% men vs 5% women).
• The highest proportion of those who used AI was found in Auckland (51%) compared to Canterbury (33%) and Wellington (27%).

For the seventh year running, independent auditors are the most trusted party when it comes to investor protection.

“Trust in audited financial statements remains robust, with 88% of New Zealand investors expressing confidence,” said CA ANZ Reporting and Assurance Leader Amir Ghandar FCA.

“Audit is the unsung hero when it comes to delivering reliable and trustworthy information to businesses, investors, journalists and market observers. Although more investors are using AI, it’s only as good as the source information, and independently audited financial statements remain the bedrock of investor intelligence.

“It is notable that auditors continue to be ranked the most trusted party in advancing investor protection, ahead of regulators, analysts and the market.

“The findings highlight the role of accountants and auditors in bringing trust and integrity to reporting, as well as the urgency of adopting digital reporting technology in New Zealand,” concluded Mr Ghandar.

At the same time, a landmark report from Chartered Accountants Worldwide (CAW) and Ipsos UK revealed that 79% of Chartered Accountants agree that as AI is integrated more into business, the role of accountants as ‘Data Guardians’ will become increasingly important to organisations.

The report, based on 2,718 respondents across 48 countries from multiple professional Chartered Accountancy institutes, underscores that accountants are increasingly using AI.

It reveals that 83% of those aged 18-24 are using AI tools at least once a week, for general productivity (40%), data entry (24%), client services (17%), and risk management (12%). Almost two-thirds (65%) expect to receive training on AI from professional bodies.

Note to editors:

The seventh CA ANZ Retail Investor Confidence Survey was conducted from 11-28 July 2025, based on responses from 548 New Zealand retail investors with more than $10,000 invested in the stock market and other investments.