NZX Opening Bell

A gold discovery 40 years in the making is now weeks away from finding out whether it can go ahead.

Damian Spring, CEO of Santana Minerals, joins Joseph Shuker on the Opening Bell podcast for an update on the company's Central Otago gold project as it reaches the end of the fast track process.

Damian talks us through where things sit and the dates to watch, what the project would mean for jobs in the region and for Kiwis currently working fly in fly out in Australian mines, how the company is approaching water and the environmental side of the application, and what has to happen between a decision and the first gold pour.

Recorded Monday 22 September 2026.

One in three New Zealanders will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and within twenty years that's forecast to be one in two. Which means most workplaces will have someone come to them with a diagnosis at some point.

Andrew Young, CEO of the Cancer Society Auckland Northland, joins Joseph Shuker on the Opening Bell podcast to talk about what happens next. What to say when a colleague tells you they have cancer, the assumptions employers tend to get wrong, why taking work off someone isn't always the kind thing to do, and how to give a person back some control when they've lost it.

Andrew also shares what Daffodil Day means to him, where the money raised goes, and some promising news on a potential new treatment coming out of a research lab here in New Zealand.

The Cancer Society receives no direct government funding. To support their work, donate at daffodilday.org.nz

Most people think of AI as an LLM like ChatGPT or Claude. Not a robot refuelling a haul truck in the middle of a mine site, or a fleet of driverless vehicles moving stock around a warehouse floor.

Scott Technology is a New Zealand automation and robotics company working across mining, meat processing, materials handling and appliances, counting Boeing, Microsoft and Coca-Cola among its customers.

CEO Mike Christman joins Joseph Shuker on the Opening Bell podcast to talk about the plan to roughly double revenue to $530 million by 2030, why he wants the company forging the market rather than following it, where AI is already doing real work on a factory floor, and the biggest misconception about what Scott Technology actually is.

Almost every Kiwi has an insurance policy. Very few know what's happening behind the scenes at the companies they trust to pay out when it matters.

Paul Johnston, CEO of Tower, joins Joseph Shuker on the Opening Bell podcast. Tower has been around for 155 years and has spent the last decade transforming how it operates, going from legacy systems to a cloud based platform and simplifying hundreds of products down to just 14.

Paul talks about how the insurance industry is changing, what it looks like to serve customers across every demographic, how Tower is using AI and technology to make the experience faster and more personal, how they're adapting to more frequent and more severe weather events, and where he sees the industry heading next

Cinema isn't dying. It's being upgraded, and a Kiwi company is right in the middle of it.

Stuart Dickinson, CEO, and Susan Peterson, Chair of Vista Group, join Joseph Shuker on the Opening Bell podcast. Vista Group is a New Zealand company whose software powers almost half the world's cinemas. From booking your ticket to the operations behind the screen, its technology runs the show.

Stuart and Susan talk about the cloud transformation reshaping their business, how the cinema experience is evolving beyond just watching a film, what it takes to stay relevant as a tech company for 30 years, and why they believe the best days of moviegoing are still ahead.

Before a product reaches you, it has to be made, stored, and shipped. The buildings where that happens are a bigger part of the economy than most people realise.

Craig Peirce, Chief Finance and Operating Officer at Property for Industry, joins Joseph Shuker on the Opening Bell podcast. PFI is an industrial property company listed on the NZX, owning more than 90 properties valued at over two billion dollars. Warehouses, distribution centres, and manufacturing facilities for some of the biggest names in New Zealand business.

Craig talks us through why their recent two hundred million dollar bond raise came in oversubscribed, what goes into turning ageing industrial sites into modern Green Star buildings, how industrial property stacks up against residential as an investment, and what thirty-two consecutive years of growing dividends says about the business.

From data centers and renewable energy to airports and telco, the infrastructure behind tomorrow's economy doesn't build itself.

Jason Boyes, CEO of Infratil, joins us on the Opening Bell podcast. Infratil is one of New Zealand's largest listed companies, investing in infrastructure businesses across the world. Data centers in Australia and the UK, renewable energy in the US, Wellington Airport and One NZ here at home.

Jason talks about the decision to invest in data centres and renewable energy long before the AI boom, how they build a portfolio that balances reliable cash flow with forward looking bets, knowing when to cut an investment that isn't working and learning from mistakes, and a project that could see solar energy shipped from an Indonesian island into Singapore.

With volatile markets back in the headlines and the global landscape shifting fast, one of the world's biggest asset classes is quietly becoming one of the most interesting. 

Sachin Gupta, portfolio manager at PIMCO, joins us on the Opening Bell Podcast to talk about the case for global fixed income right now, what the current geopolitical situation means for inflation and interest rates, and how New Zealand investors should be thinking about bonds as part of a balanced portfolio. He is joined in studio by Blake Etheridge, senior portfolio manager at Smartshares, who adds a local perspective on where New Zealand sits in the current global picture.

Together they cover why the bond market is more interesting today than it has been in a generation, how to think about the inflation risks ahead, and why a globally diversified fixed income allocation matters more than ever for Kiwi investors.

Disclaimer: Smartshares Limited is the issuer and manager of the Smart Exchange Traded Funds and the SuperLife range of managed investment schemes. The product disclosure statements are available at smartinvest.co.nz and superlife.co.nz/legal. 

Global trade is the largest commercial arena in the world, and the technology behind it is changing fast.

Andrew Balgarnie, Chief Strategy Officer at TradeWindow, joins us on the Opening Bell podcast to talk about the NZX listed trade and logistics software company helping some of New Zealand and Australia's biggest exporters and freight forwarders get their goods out to the world. We talk about what's driving their growth, their push into the Australian market, and a new AI powered product that could change the way goods move across borders.

This podcast was recorded 17 March.

Markets are moving, headlines are noisy, and investors are looking for a steady hand to help make sense of it all.

Stuart Williams, Managing Director of Amova Asset Management New Zealand, has spent close to 30 years navigating financial markets through some of the biggest shocks in modern history. In this episode, Stu talks us through how the current geopolitical situation compares to past crises, why he believes New Zealand's economic settings are stronger than they might appear, and where he's seeing real opportunity across equities and bonds.

We also get into the KiwiSaver contribution increase, what it means for investors, and why it could be a game changer for New Zealand markets long term.