Dunedin could help in Asia-Pacific hub

Dunedin could play a pivotal part in plans to form an Asia-Pacific financial services hub in New Zealand, Dunedin businessman Craig Myles, of Myles Wealth Management, said yesterday.

The plan came out of the Capital Markets Taskforce, which was asked by Prime Minister John Key to investigate the proposal and report directly back to him.

Mr Myles said there was no reason to assume the hub would be in Auckland and Wellington and he had already had meetings with Cabinet ministers to promote the benefits of having a hub in the South.

Among the benefits were the highly educated workforce leaving Dunedin tertiary institutions, particularly graduates with skills in information technology, accountancy and legal work.

Dunedin had a lower cost structure than those of other main centres and was well served with infrastructure, he said.

The city was also familiar with the operations of call centres.

The plan, although being supported and led by Mr Key, is being overseen by two South Island MPs, Finance Minister Bill English and Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee.

Mr Myles said the establishment of a financial hub in New Zealand would generate billions of dollars in exports.

"It's as real an export as a case of wine or a box of kiwifruit, but with a higher margin and higher value.

"It leverages off another of our export industries - education."

The concept was the reverse of buying goods manufactured elsewhere at a lower cost than being made in New Zealand.

In a personal capacity, Mr Myles was working with a Christchurch boutique law firm on a smaller version of the scheme.

The lawyer had left New Zealand for Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, to find the job he wanted.

He worked in Jersey providing advice on the management of investments for high-net-worth individuals.

After returning to New Zealand, he was now "exporting" his legal services for the same sort of work.

"We can grow the economic pie through the creation of a new industry.

"This is an opportunity for New Zealand to leverage off having a highly skilled workforce and having a slightly lower wage structure than Australia.

"We are exporting high-value skills to international clients," Mr Myles said.

The opportunities were seen in which tools could be traded in New Zealand.

The New Zealand markets were the first to open in the world and the Monday in this country was Sunday in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, providing opportunities for a full working day for people to act on market information.

That would provide a broadening of the financial tools available on this country's traded and listed markets.

That space was currently occupied by large institutional brokers.

Jobs would be generated in the administration and support services around the management of money, the back office of the fund management industry, Mr Myles said.

Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Christie said it was a "brilliant idea" and deserved to be promoted by the wider city.

It was a good initiative for New Zealand to pursue because of the sound legal structure and politically stable environment in this country.

New Zealand had also entered into several free trade agreements and while some of those had focused on goods, others included services into which financial services would fit, Mr Christie said.

"If it is good for New Zealand for all of those reasons, then the South Island would be a significant beneficiary for all the same reasons.

"We have a more cost-effective base from which those companies could operate.

"The University of Otago is growing in student numbers, but also in the number of postgraduates who wouldn't need to travel offshore for experience in financial markets."

Dunedin had the infrastructure to handle an increased population and the city was "crying out" for jobs with income at a level above the national average, Mr Christie said.

It was time to get practical and consider what would start the process.

There had to be a general willingness within the city to pursue it and the place to start could be the Dunedin City Council's economic development strategy.

"It would fit nicely into discussions around what we should give priority to so we can grow the economy," he said.