New research has identified many expatriate New Zealanders who are willing and able to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in New Zealand companies.
The non-profit expatriate investment network Kea New Zealand surveyed more than 500 New Zealanders living overseas.
It found 13% of the respondents are prospective investors.
Kea's chairman and co-founder Sir Stephen Tindall told Evening Business on Checkpoint the research backs up anecdotal evidence
"It confirmed what we already knew but what we wanted to do was to tell the rest of the country that it was actually true."
Sir Stephen says Kea will now work with both government and private enterprises to connect the wealthy investors to potential investments.
He says the network has had interviews with 30 high net worth people in London who have said they are interested in these types of investments.
Those people are now being given details of specific investment opportunities.
Sir Stephen says he expects most foreign investment in New Zealand will come from Asia until markets in Europe and the US recover.
