On the back of the 1860s gold rushes, Dunedin became the country's principal city for a period, and also home to its first stock exchange in Princes St.
That stock exchange has lent its name to Dunedin's Exchange precinct since 1869 and next week the 21st-century NZX and its board returns to its roots to mark the start of its 150th anniversary celebrations.
The chairman of NZX for the past three years is Balclutha-born James Miller.
"It'll be great to bring it all back to where it began," Mr Miller said.
Next Thursday, there are several guest lectures hosted by the University of Otago, a gala dinner for about 150 people at the Glenroy Auditorium on Thursday, then the 150th annual meeting on Saturday at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
Mr Miller (56) was adamant the Dunedin stock exchange could lay claim to being the country's first exchange, although it was quickly followed by others around the country.
The Dunedin exchange was largely set up for the deluge of mining companies looking to raise cash for their ventures, around mainly Otago and Southland but also Reefton.
"Those miners were quite speculative, but they were quickly followed by banks [listing], some London stocks and also rural services companies," he said.
Mr Miller went to South Otago High School and graduated from the University of Otago with a bachelor of commerce degree and attended Harvard University.
His stock market career included working for the ANZ, ABN AMRO and he was head of research at Craigs Investment Partners.
He has retired from directorships with Vector and Auckland International Airport, but remains deputy chairman of ACC and is on the boards of NZ Refining and Mercury Energy.
His first NZX board meeting was on October 20, 1987. That date was better known as the day of New Zealand's stock market crash - which followed the US' Black Monday crash a day earlier.
"By the end of that day there were five members underwater and numerous companies were in trouble," Sir Eion said.
That event went on to spark reform and restructuring of the New Zealand market.
Sir Eion said the exchange, which had used up its fidelity funds for members and clients, had to rebuild its fortunes.
Every trade thereafter attracted a $15+ GST charge, which went on for about a decade until the charge was whittled down to 75c per trade. It helped "get the exchange back on its feet".
Sir Eion was NZX chairman from 1992-98 and only recently retired as Forsyth Barr's chairman of 20 years.
The past decade had been good for the exchange and profitable for companies.
Post the 2007-08 global financial crisis, New Zealand did not attract the sweeping negative effects seen elsewhere in the world, largely because of both the good state of the economy and its listed companies were in better shape.
When Sir Eion joined Forsyth Barr in November 1972, it had 10 staff and one office in Bond St, Dunedin. That had since grown to 22 offices and 350 staff nationwide and it has about $8 billion of funds under management.
"There's no doubt private equity has less disclosure and longer timeframes and has captured companies that should be listed," he said.
"[However] there will always be a need to raise capital . . . I anticipate that will grow; the country badly needs that additional capital."
Sir Eion (74) laughs off any suggestion of retirement, and still puts in 50-60-hour weeks, including work for Forsyth Barr, family business interests and also numerous charities with which he is involved, the latest being the NZ Dementia Prevention Trust.
He believed the outlook for the markets remained sound and would continue to grow, especially given the current low-interest environment and as investors looked for yields from equities.
"Otago has played a very big part in the market. It's something we should all be proud of," Sir Eion said.
Mr Miller said other 150th events were planned throughout the year, in Christchurch, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, and included retail investor and 150th evenings, a book launch at Parliament, a charity gold match in Taupo and in November, plus the findings of the just-commissioned Capital Markets 2029 Report.
Earlier this month, nine financial market heavy hitters were named to join the steering committee of the capital markets review, announced by the NZX and Financial Markets Authority in January.
"We're wanting to look at ways to invigorate the IPO [initial public offer] market . . . there are businesses wanting to go transtasman or global," Mr Miller said.
Review chairman Martin Stearne, a corporate consultant and former managing director of merchant bank FNZC, said he was pleased with the industry response and quality of the line-up.
Those appointed were Rob Campbell, chairman of SkyCity and Tourism Holdings, Rachel Dunne, a partner at law firm Chapman Tripp, Ross George, managing director of private equity firm Direct Capital, James Lee, chief executive of FNZC, Westpac chief executive David McLean, Forsyth Barr managing director Neil Paviour-Smith, Rebecca Thomas, chief executive of Mint Asset Management, New Zealand Superannuation Fund chief executive Matt Whineray and Geoff Zame, head of institutional equities at Craigs Investment Partners.
Mr Miller said the subsequent report by accountancy firm EY was expected to deliver a 10-year vision and growth agenda for capital markets.
To mark the 150th, author Michael Lawson is just putting the finishing touches on an as-yet unnamed book, which is due out soon.
There are contributions from fund managers, institutional dealers, equities experts, analysts, regulators, legal experts, company directors and politicians alike.
"From chalkies to prime ministers, we've captured their thinking, their experiences and their stories," Mr Lawson said.
"Certainly some of the most compelling comments come from the contributors who gave us their thoughts on the potential path ahead for our capital markets," he said.
The exchange is sharing the same year for its 150th as the University of Otago, and Mr Lawson noted many capital markets alumni studied there, including NZX and Financial Markets Authority chairman Simon Allen and current NZX board member Nigel Babbage.
And closer to home, Dunedin also delivered many notable participants, including H. Robert Wilson, Murray Sidey and his son Michael, Noeline Munro and Sir Eion.
"The NZX itself is now set on the course of creating a brighter future for everyone in the capital markets ecosystem," Mr Lawson said.
- Additional reporting: BusinessDesk
