Introduction
2025 heralds the 10-year anniversary of the partnership between S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) and New Zealand Exchange (NZX). It was in June 2015 when the NZSE 50 converted to the S&P/NZX 50 Index and the NZX-S&P DJI collaboration resulted in all domestic indices being rebranded as S&P/NZX, with S&P DJI overseeing index management, calculation and commercialization.
Ten years is a long time in financial markets, or any sphere for that matter. There have been 43 new listings on the NZX, 5 different prime ministers, 3 general elections and 1 global pandemic. The Ranfurly Shield has changed hands 13 times, the All Blacks have continuously retained the Bledisloe Cup with a 21-4 win-loss record and the flagship S&P/NZX 50 Index has grown by more than 120% on a cumulative basis of 8.21% per year as of June 30, 2025.
S&P/NZX Indices: Underpinning the Growth of Index-Based Investing
The S&P/NZX index partnership has produced a wide range of new stock and bond market indices measuring the performance of various sectors, segments and styles. The indices are widely used by market participants and play a pivotal role in guiding them on liquidity, quality and performance of the broad market and specific segments. The partnership between S&P DJI and NZX formed at an inflection point in the development of New Zealand’s capital market and has brought index methodologies, calculations and governance in alignment with global standards.
Over the past 10 years, more New Zealand investors have been seeking passive, lower-cost investment strategies either directly or through KiwiSaver. This trend has supported the growth in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), many of which are linked to S&P/NZX Indices.
Today, there are 48 ETFs listed on the NZX with a total of NZD 8.07 billion in assets under management. Assets have grown at a compound annual growth rate of over 15% since December 2019. The vast majority of the NZX-listed ETFs are passive investment vehicles whose constituents and weights reflect those of an underlying index.
Almost half of the ETFs listed on the NZX are linked to S&P DJI-branded indices with NZD 4.88 billion in assets under management across multiple asset classes and investment regions. When focusing on New Zealand equity ETFs, there are nine that are linked to S&P/NZX Equity Indices with NZD 2.64 billion in assets under management.
There are also three NZD cash bond ETFs listed on the NZX, and these three funds are linked to the S&P/NZX 90 Day Bank Bills Index, S&P/NZX NZ Government Bond Index and S&P/NZX Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index, respectively, with over NZD 1 billion in investment assets.
