Dual listed companies - NZX and ASX

[Snoopy]

Is there ever any benefit in investing in the same company on both exchanges?

An NZ shareholder holding a joint NZ/AUS listed share, whether in Australia or New Zealand, will still have the same imputation credits (which they can use) and franking credits (that they can't use) no matter what country's exchange the shares are held on. The only difference is that any sales in Australia will be conducted in Australian dollars, albeit at a market adjusted price that reflects the exchange rate of the day. There are brokers on both sides of the tasman who will arbitrage away any small pricing anomalies. From a small investor perspective there is share price equivalence.

Over the last eight years in particular, the NZ/Oz exchange rate seems to hover around $NZ1 = $A0.9. We are both regarded as 'commodity trading economies' and as such the relative exchange rates tend to move in step. In recent years the interest rates in both countries have come into alignment as well which makes both our economies even more aligned from an international perspective. Broadly speaking both countries have done well navigating Covid-19 too. Australia does have the advantage of being 'larger scale' and has a broader range of commodities it trades. We both share a solid agricultural base, but Australia has a very extensive mining industry adjunct to a far greater extent than we have here. What I am saying, in a long winded way, is that I expect the exchange rate to continue to hover around the $NZ1 =$A0.9 in the medium to long term. And that relativity will be maintained because the Australian economy is, at a very basic level, stronger. If you look at the ten year exchange rate chart though, occasionally opportunities present themselves.

In March 2020 for example, our currencies got close to parity. In that situation I would make the case for buying your NZ domiciled dual listed share on the Australian market. Then as the exchange rate drifted back to a more normalised value, you would end up with more NZD value (because you had effectively used $A to buy your shares when the $A was unusually cheap). But of course this only 'works' if you have a supply of Australian dollars to spend. As I have a steady dividend stream from my ASX investments, I do have this. I wouldn't recommend this as a strategy in itself, as I think it is a fools game to think you can predict exchange rates in the short term. However, if you can afford to wait out these exchange rate movements, and I have made my case as to why the NZD/AUD exchange rate should be stable long term, then there may be a chance to increase your NZD value by buying when the NZD is strong and selling when the NZD is weak on the Oz market while the underlying value of the NZ domiciled asset does not change. My strategy here is to 'wait for the market to come to me' rather than investing with the expectation that such a thing will happen.

A side benefit of this is that you can shunt dual listed shares from the Oz market to the NZ market at no cost and avoid bank exchange rate charges that would otherwise be incurred by selling in Australia and bringing Australian money back to NZ.

This kind of thing I regard as investing 'around the edges'. Share selection is always a much more significant effect than any of this.

SNOOPY

P.S. Another potential advantage is the timing window. You can buy/sell an Australian dual listed share on the NZX before the ASX opens. Likewise you can buy sell an NZ dual listed share on the ASX after the NZ market has closed.