How to Choose a Shares Platform in New Zealand

How to Choose a Shares Platform in New Zealand

The most surprising thing we found while putting this guide together is that the cheapest platform does not exist. Every pricing model punishes one kind of investor and rewards another. A flat fee is brutal on a $200 order and almost free on a $20,000 one. A percentage fee with a cap does the opposite. A platform with no account fee has to make its money somewhere, and it usually makes it inside the funds.

So the real question is not which platform is cheapest. It is which cost structure matches the way you actually invest. Order size and order frequency decide that, and nothing else does.

The second thing worth knowing is that the tax wrapper matters as much as the platform. A New Zealand-listed ETF is usually a listed PIE taxed at a flat 28% inside the fund. An unlisted managed fund is usually a multi-rate PIE taxed at your own prescribed investor rate. Same platform, same market exposure, different tax outcome.

How We Researched This Guide

Everything here comes from primary sources. We used each provider's own published pricing pages for the fee figures, Inland Revenue for the tax rules, and the Financial Markets Authority for the consumer guidance on fees, risk and value for money. The legal detail on disclosure and the financial advice regime is set out in full on legislation.govt.nz, which is where we checked the wording of the statutory duties.

Two things surprised us. First, the FIF de minimis is still $50,000. Budget 2026 proposed doubling it to $100,000 from 1 April 2026, but that sits in a bill introduced on 10 September 2026 and has not been enacted, so we have written to the current threshold. Second, the FMA's own finding that there is no systematic relationship between fees charged and returns received. That single sentence reframes the whole comparison.

ValueHub's Trusted Providers

We've researched the providers below — here are our picks for this category.

The Quick Summary (60-Second Version)

If you read nothing else, read this.

• Work out your typical order size first. Sharesies caps its 1.9% fee at $25 on NZ orders over $1,316, so small orders pay proportionally more.
• Hatch charges US$3 flat up to 300 shares plus a 0.5% exchange fee on both deposit and withdrawal, which is the cost that catches people out.
• Stake charges US$3 per trade and a flat 1% FX fee with a US$2 minimum, but only when you convert currency, not when you buy and sell.
• Kernel charges $0 brokerage on US shares at every tier, so the FX fee is the only cost of a trade — 1.50% on Core, 0.40% on Premium.
• InvestNow has no platform fee at all; the manager's fees and a 0.50% buy and sell transaction fee are what you pay.
• Check whether your fund is a listed PIE (flat 28% inside the fund) or a multi-rate PIE (your own PIR, either 10.5%, 17.5% or 28%).

Fees: Match the Structure to Your Order Size

There is no single winner on cost. What there is, is a structure that suits you and several that do not. A flat minimum fee punishes small orders because the fixed cost is spread over less money. A percentage fee with a cap never rewards size, but it also never punishes it. A platform with no account fee shifts the cost into the funds themselves and into buy and sell transaction fees.

Run your own numbers against these published figures. Sharesies charges 1.9% of the amount invested or sold, capped per order: $25 on NZ shares, $15 AUD on Australian, US$5 on US. Those caps kick in at $1,316 NZD, $805 AUD and US$264 respectively. If you invest $100 a month, you are paying close to the full 1.9%.

Hatch charges US$3 flat to buy or sell up to 300 shares, plus US$0.01 for each additional share. Its auto-invest tiers scale: 1% under US$300, a US$3 flat fee from US$300 to US$30,000, and 0.01% above that. Stake is US$3 per trade, or 0.01% for orders of US$30,000 or more.

The FX fee is often the bigger number

What the local brokers charge

Tax: The Wrapper Matters as Much as the Platform

Most New Zealand managed funds are portfolio investment entities. An unlisted managed fund is usually a multi-rate PIE, taxed at your own prescribed investor rate, with the fund manager handling the calculation and payment. An NZX-listed ETF is usually a listed PIE, taxed at a flat 28% inside the fund. Same market, different tax.

PIR rates for resident individuals are 10.5%, 17.5% and 28%, based on your taxable income and PIE income in the two previous income years. If your marginal rate is 33% or 39%, a PIE caps your tax on investment income at 28%. Check your rate whenever your circumstances change, because Inland Revenue may square up overpaid or underpaid PIE tax after the year ends.

There is a nuance on listed PIEs. Distributions are generally not taxable when received and carry no resident withholding tax. But if your marginal rate is below 28%, you may elect to treat the imputed portion as taxable income, because the excess imputation credits can offset other taxable income and may produce a refund.

Offshore holdings and the FIF threshold

Dividends and the yield trap

Beyond Fees: Disclosure, Advice and Risk

In New Zealand the prospectus regime was replaced under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. What you actually read is a product disclosure statement plus an entry on the Disclose Register. The PDS opens with a compulsory key information summary and covers how the investment works, the portfolio, the risks, the fees, the taxes, who is involved, and how to complain.

Read the statement of investment policy and objectives alongside it. The PDS tells you what the fund claims; the SIPO tells you the policy the manager has committed to follow. Where a fund claims to exclude a sector, check whether that exclusion is a hard rule or a preference, because a preference can be overridden.

The FMA's value for money findings are blunt. There is no systematic relationship between fees charged and returns received, and no systematic relationship between fees and degree of active management. Active funds typically do not outperform their market index after fees over meaningful periods. Higher fees are not evidence of a better manager.

What to ask before you sign up

Platforms providing financial services here must be registered on the Financial Service Providers Register, belong to a dispute resolution scheme, and comply with anti-money-laundering obligations. Anyone giving regulated advice to retail clients must hold or operate under a Financial Advice Provider licence, and the Code of Professional Conduct 2025 came into force on 1 November 2025.

Questions You Might Have

Do I need a lot of money to start?

No. Sharesies has no minimum and fractional shares mean any amount works. Hatch lets you start with US$1. InvestNow and Kernel impose no minimum on their fund ranges, though Kernel's US shares and ETFs have a $1 minimum. Smart allows holdings from as little as $50 a month.

Is dollar cost averaging actually better than a lump sum?

Not reliably. Markets rise more often than they fall over long periods, so a lump sum invested early will often end up ahead. What regular investing does is remove the decision of when to start and reduce the chance you invest everything at an unusually bad moment. Its real value is that it is automatic.

Should I pick an index fund or an active fund?

The FMA's framing is useful here. If you are comparing an active fund with an index fund tracking the same market, the index fund shows you the cost of simply getting the exposure. Passive funds are usually cheaper because the strategy is simpler. Most ETFs offered in New Zealand are passive.

How do I know a platform is legitimate?

Check it is on the Financial Service Providers Register, belongs to a dispute resolution scheme, and is licensed by the FMA where required. The FMA also publishes investor warnings naming companies and websites to be wary of, though it only lists ones it has been told about. Anyone contacting you out of the blue with an investment offer is a hard pass.

What about ESG and sustainability claims?

The FMA issued Sustainability-related disclosure guidance in May 2026. Claims must be clear, substantiated, consistent across every platform, and third-party involvement must be managed — responsibility stays with the issuer. Greenwashing is false or misleading sustainability claims; greenhushing is deliberately saying too little. Read the SIPO to see what is actually committed.

What Matters Most

Start with your own behaviour, not the fee table. How much will you invest each time, and how often? That single answer eliminates most of the field. If you are putting in $100 a month, a percentage fee hurts and a flat fee hurts more. If you are putting in $10,000 twice a year, the flat fee is close to free and the percentage fee is not.

Then check the tax wrapper, because it can quietly outweigh the fee difference you spent an afternoon comparing. A listed PIE taxed at a flat 28% inside the fund is a different outcome from a multi-rate PIE taxed at your own rate, and the FIF threshold is your responsibility the moment you hold offshore assets directly.

Finally, remember what the FMA found: fees and returns are not systematically related. Paying more does not buy you a better manager. What it buys you is a service, and the question worth asking is whether that service demonstrably helps you make better decisions. If it does not, you are just paying more.