Rocket Lab overtakes Air New Zealand as Sharesies investors regain confidence

Retail investor confidence on the Sharesies platform recovered in the second quarter of 2025, with space-sector stocks taking the lead as Rocket Lab displaced Air New Zealand as the most widely held company, according to the New Zealand-based investment platform’s latest quarterly index.

The Sharesies Index, which tracks investor sentiment on a scale of 0 to 100, rose from 43 at the start of the April-to-June quarter to 57 by the end, moving from the balanced range into confident territory. The index peaked at 61 in mid-June, with Sharesies attributing the rise partly to efforts to de-escalate US-Iran tensions before it eased slightly by quarter-end.

Rocket Lab shares were held by nearly 70,000 Sharesies investors across New Zealand and Australia at the end of June, plus more than 4,300 members of the platform’s KiwiSaver scheme. The US-listed space company edged Air New Zealand out of the top spot, which the airline had held since the index launched in 2023.

Sharesies head of data and analytics Jordan Cunningham said Rocket Lab’s Kiwi roots and its success in the United States resonated strongly with local retail investors. “It’s a story a lot of New Zealand investors can kind of get behind,” he noted.

Interest in space extended to SpaceX, which entered the Sharesies Bundle for the first time after its Nasdaq listing under the ticker SPCX. By quarter’s end, nearly 23,000 Sharesies investors held SpaceX shares, making it the 11th most widely held company on the platform.

Despite the shift toward individual stocks, diversified investments remained dominant. The Smart US 500 ETF held onto its position as the single most widely held investment on the platform. “This suggests investors are not going all out on individual shares, and are making sure they spread their risk, which is great to see,” Cunningham said.

Cashflows into the platform strengthened markedly during the quarter. More than NZ$440 million flowed into customer wallets in June alone. The deposit ratio — comparing deposits to withdrawals — averaged 2.08, up from 1.94 in the previous quarter, and peaked at 3.22 in early June. Net buying also improved, with the buyers-to-sellers ratio reaching a 19-month high of 1.46 in mid-June. The proportion of assets invested in individual companies averaged 71%, compared with 68% in the prior quarter.

Cunningham said the data offered “positive indications” that investors were becoming more mature and continued to seek growth rather than pulling out of the market entirely.