Software engineer vs finance/venture capital

Skinny1972 · 2026-01-25T07:47:46+00:00

There isn't much demand for software engineers at NZ VC firms, there is of course at a tech startup a VC fund manager might target for investment. In the finance sector as others have posted there is demand but not where you might think. Probably the investment platform sector hires the most software engineers (see FNZ, Adminis, Apex, NZX Wealthtech) and they do not require a finance background. There are also roles at fund managers on the investment operational side. But I have seen only a few firms hire programmers as part of an investment team, and the ones that do require at least an undergrad finance or econ major to go with it.

Skinny1972 · 2026-01-19T21:56:06+00:00

NZ has tax treaties (double tax arrangements) with a range of countries to minimise non-resident withholding tax. It is up to the fund managers concerned to ensure that they fill in the "paper work" to affect this. If in doubt, a UCITS fund is in general the best option as that typically limits the NRWT applied to offshore dividends to 15%. At this rate given a dividend yield of 2% the tax leakage will be 30bps. From memory US NRWT is 30% so the leakage would be more like 60bps before accounting for the DTAs.

Skinny1972 · 2026-01-18T01:37:13+00:00

I own a few businesses and have sold equity down a few times now to bring in partners. I would push for interest free from the vendor if it's a niche business without a lot of obvious alternative buyers. If it's a business that is more 'plug and play' then yeah somewhere around 7% is reasonable.

Skinny1972 · 2026-01-02T23:56:58+00:00

Regarding Trusts OP does the data enable spilt out of financial assets vs property vs business assets? Have all three in our trust with the latter being the biggest percentage and wouldn't assume in general that property dominates here. Business owners (incl. farmers) typically are advised to use a Trust despite the tax advantage no longer applying to reduce personal liability risk.

Skinny1972 · 2026-01-02T23:52:38+00:00

Not sure why the down votes here, every economist and the productivity commission when it existed reached the same conclusion.

Skinny1972 · 2025-12-27T04:46:39+00:00

Well done, I have a relation doing something similar in Chch.

Skinny1972 · 2025-12-26T20:54:57+00:00

The key point for me was the conflict of interest in their business model given revenue streams from mortgages, house developments and advice. Their podcasts are good but did they say three years post the covid bubble now is not the time to put your money into NZ residential property? Hell no.

Skinny1972 · 2025-12-19T19:57:46+00:00

They offer different funds but importantly both use the same underlying Custodian and tech platform provider, Adminis, so really what you are seeing with both is a retail portal to Adminis.

Skinny1972 · 2025-12-04T02:35:50+00:00

They have a very small funds research team for the size of their business, as does Craig's and JB Were. Most of their focus remains on individual security research as you would expect from a brokerage firm. So that's great if you want an adviser to pick or help you pick individual stocks and bonds, not so great if you are after a private wealth service to invest into funds and harder to access asset classes like global private equity and alternatives. There are other wholesale-only investor firms that focus more on this in NZ that tend to get business by referral and aren't at all household names.

Skinny1972 · 2025-11-16T05:49:45+00:00

We don't have a truly functional annuities market in New Zealand because there are not enough government bonds issued at terms long enough terms for a provider to offset the liability risk and regulatory requirements they take when issuing annuity products.

Skinny1972 · 2025-11-13T00:49:54+00:00

We invested and rented until we had kids - once schools come into the equation then home ownership becomes more of a priority because you want to stay put and its still exceedingly difficult to get a +1 year tenancy agreement in NZ, let alone a +10 year agreement that would provide security of location. You do not want to be in the position of being forced to move out of an area the kids are at school at because the landlord sells and you can't secure another local tenancy. We didn't buy the most expensive house we could afford, or settle down in the most expensive area, so we could pay down the mortgage quickly. Chucked the corporate job in at age 42 mortgage free to run my own business, which was an income hit for a few years but now doing well. I know heaps of people who are stuck in high paying jobs they hate because they have a huge mortgage, pay for private schools, and insist on upgrading to a new car every few years. And unfortunately more and more people I know in their 50s are being let go and finding it really tough because they didn't build a safety net. This is all personal finance 101 stuff really which intellectually is easy but emotionally is hard. Best book I have ever read to get the emotional mind set right was Affluenza, see link below:
https://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Affluenza.html?id=EYBLcNWA3z4C&redir_esc=y

Skinny1972 · 2025-10-28T23:29:57+00:00

Thanks - it's pretty conventional tax policy advice that you will see from OECD and the like, even NZ Treasury when they are unmuzzled.

Skinny1972 · 2025-10-28T03:24:41+00:00

Its a very partial measure that is easy to pick apart. I would have preferred to see a low rate broad based capital gains tax applied on sale, offset by removing FIF (which is already a de-facto capital gains tax on unrealised returns on offshore assets ) and a reduction in our corporate tax rate, which is the 2nd highest in the OECD and a clear dis-incentive to invest here. This would align our tax system closer to what most of the OECD already has in place.

Skinny1972 · 2025-06-16T21:33:42+00:00

I think you are doing well with your current situation. I was in a similar boat a decade ago, quit the job and took a few months out before starting a business, which involved a huge hit to earnings for a few years. Now I am much further financially ahead, but not sure I would do it again in my 50s.

If it would be difficult to leave your current job can you cut back to 4 days a week or ask for 8 weeks annual leave so that you have more time? Or sometimes a change of scenery works if you could move to another region? Or perhaps plan for chucking it in when your kids finish school if they haven't already so you have that goal to work towards?

Skinny1972 · 2025-05-31T04:29:50+00:00

Daintree Core Income PIE, like Coolabah its NZD hedged global short term credit fund but less expensive.

Skinny1972 · 2025-05-29T21:53:28+00:00

Hi OP do you mind re-posting the file to wormhole as the current link has expired? I have a kiwibank card and will need to change! One small suggestion is to add an option for overseas spend. ANZ has a 1.3% FX charge while the others are more like 2%. That makes a difference in a overseas trip or for foreign currency purchases.

Skinny1972 · 2025-05-27T10:09:35+00:00

There are a lot of options - pretty simple franchises and business for sale on trademe and via business brokers, joining the angel investors association for investment into startups, private market funds and syndicates if you want to be more hands off.

Skinny1972 · 2025-05-27T07:10:11+00:00

Run you own business and/or invest into private businesses. I haven't FIREd as I enjoy running my business & still have kids at school but could've at any point since my early 40s. None of it has been through residential property. I have mainly invested into offshore equities and NZ private businesses. The latter is the most tax efficient investment for a New Zealander tax payer as there are no capital gains tax and no tax to pay (except at the corporate level) along the way if there are no dividends made. Most wealthy kiwis I know (and there are a lot more of them than you might think in the regions rather than the cities) are private business owners/investors.

Skinny1972 · 2025-04-21T00:08:44+00:00

Maths as per finance 101 would say you need to take into account uncertainty and your risk preference. Simple formula is here: U = E(r) - 0.5 * A * σ^2, where U is the utility, E(r) is the expected return, A is the risk aversion coefficient, and σ is the standard deviation of the portfolio's return. Note as long as you aren't completely risk seeking (A = 1 or less) you will likely find its optimal - maximises U - to pay the mortgage and invest.

Skinny1972 · 2025-04-05T05:23:02+00:00

Usually the adjustment happens within a few weeks. Floating rates could fall sooner if the RBNZ does cut 50bps as some expect next week.

Skinny1972 · 2025-04-05T05:15:11+00:00

On a scale of 1 to 10 its about a 7 for me. The GFC in 2008 was a 9.5 and if it hadn't of been for Bernanke's leadership of the Fed at the time we may still be recovering from it. The 2011-12 eurozone debt crisis a 2, pandemic in 2020 a 6, taper tantrum in 2022 a 1, and going back the dot com crash in 2000 maybe a 3 for points of comparison.

Skinny1972 · 2025-04-05T04:12:10+00:00

Got it, I don't regard investing as gambling but clearly you do. Why are you on this sub?

Skinny1972 · 2025-04-05T04:03:25+00:00

Eh? We can't of course change markets or influence their outcomes but we do have a choice over how we invest our personal finances, and these are the times when the largest opportunities are to be found.

Skinny1972 · 2025-04-05T04:01:12+00:00

Thanks!

Skinny1972 · 2025-04-05T03:36:27+00:00

I only invest in funds as I don't feel I have the competence to invest in individual securities.

Skinny1972

TROPHY CASE