The Active Investor Plus (AIP) scheme ticked above the headline $4 billion level, comprising a mix of real and promised commitments from wealthy migrants, the most recent Immigration NZ data shows.
As at May 24, the AIP system had processed some $1.7 billion of ‘committed capital’ with a further $2.6 billion awaiting official visa sign-offs: the latest stats take the combined total to $4.3 billion compared to $3.9 billion at the end of March.
Based on behaviour to date, much of the residency-for-sale proceeds will flow into one or more of the wholesale private credit funds approved for AIP consumption by Invest NZ – the specialist agency spun out of the Trade and Enterprise department last year.
Of the current 67 visa-compliant options on the Invest NZ list, only 17 (circa 25 per cent) carry a private credit label but the investment style has captured more than two-thirds of managed fund allocations by migrants.
Recent Immigration NZ data shows private debt offerings soaked up almost $516 million, or over 70 per cent, of the more than $725 million of ‘committed capital’ flowing into AIP-approved managed funds to the end of March in the growth category.
Under the AIP scheme as revised in April 2025, visa applicants opting for the ‘growth’ route, covering approved managed funds and other direct local assets, are subject to a lower minimum investment, briefer holding periods and shorter residency requirements compared to ‘balanced’ category counterparts who commit to lower-risk securities.
From March 31 this year to near the end of May, the total amount of AIP locked-in capital increased from $1.48 billion to $1.72 billion with private credit likely to have retained its favoured status.
Last week, for example, Real Asset Management (RAM) touted a tie-up with Oxbury Agricultural Finance to provide $200 million of funding for farmers to buy livestock. An unspecified amount of the $200 million has been sourced from the RAM NZ Credit Fund, approved for AIP purposes by Invest NZ last December.
“The transaction demonstrates how international investment can support productive enterprises, strengthen regional communities and deliver tangible benefits for New Zealand,” a RAM release says.
In April, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford, made a similar spruik for private credit on the one-year anniversary of the revised AIP scheme.
“Private credit matters because it helps unlock productive capital for New Zealand businesses through private lending, giving firms another option alongside bank finance which is often asset based,” Stanford said at the time in a statement.
However, from the perspective of AIP applicants, the appeal of private credit may lie in the relatively short maturity horizons compared to, say, venture capital, that are generally scheduled to meet visa conditions – of a three-year minimum holding in the case of the growth category.
The RAM fund, for instance, boasts of liquidity terms “aligned with AIP investment timelines”.
Overall, growth-status investments accounted for about two-thirds ($980 million plus) of the almost $1.5 billion in committed capital sourced from rich migrants as at March 31.
Aside from private credit, AIP growth applicants have tipped in about $96 million into local venture capital coffers and more than $60 million into private equity funds.
But direct investments amounted to a paltry $20.4 million of the growth money.
The now-discontinued discretionary investment management service (DIMS) option remains the second most-popular choice behind private credit for AIP applicants, representing more than $246 million, or 25 per cent, of the committed growth money as at March 31.
DIMS may have more closely rivalled private credit in the most recent AIP stats if Stanford had not shut off the choice on December 4 last year.
“The change was intended to better align growth category investments with the principles and objectives of the AIP scheme, to support active investment for stronger economic benefits for New Zealand,” an Invest NZ spokesperson said earlier this year.
It is understood officials were concerned DIMS opened the door for AIP growth investors into more liquid assets including cash.