NZ Private Capital, the industry association for the country's private equity and venture capital sector, holds its 2026 Annual Conference under the theme "Accelerating global ambition" at Ayrburn near Queenstown on 21-22 October. The programme confirms senior investors, fund managers and advisers as speakers.
New Zealand's private equity and venture capital community will gather at Ayrburn, on the edge of Queenstown, for the NZ Private Capital Annual Conference on 21-22 October 2026. The organiser's official registration site lists the programme opening at midday on the 21st and running through the following day, under the theme "Accelerating global ambition."
The event is billed by its organiser as "the leading private capital event of the year," built around three stated aims: exploring global investing trends and geopolitical outlooks, sharing how private capital is backing the ambitions of New Zealand companies, and building networks across the sector.
The conference is presented by NZ Private Capital, the industry association for private capital markets in New Zealand (formerly the NZVCA). The association represents private equity and venture capital fund managers, institutional investors and professional advisers, and runs the sector's calendar of events, including this annual conference and an AGM held in Auckland on 8 October 2026. Colin McKinnon, the association's Executive Director, is listed among the conference speakers.
The delegate base is the senior end of the investment community: fund partners and directors, institutional investors, corporate finance advisers and portfolio-company leaders. The published speaker line-up reflects that, drawing from firms including Direct Capital, Movac, Pacific Equity Partners, Hamilton Lane, Aotea Asset Management and Cassiobury, alongside advisers and market figures from Deloitte, MinterEllisonRuddWatts, ANZ, ASB, NZX and ASX. Sessions and social functions announced for the 2026 edition include a venture funds lunch, a women's lunch, an LP/GP dinner and various partner-hosted networking events across the venue.
Ayrburn is a hospitality and events precinct at Ayr Avenue, Arrowtown, in the Queenstown-Lakes district; the same venue hosted the association's 2025 conference. As a destination, Queenstown positions itself for business events around distinctive venues set in mountain and lakeside landscapes, supported by the Queenstown Convention Bureau, which offers planners free venue-sourcing, site inspections and familiarisation visits. The district is served by Queenstown Airport with domestic and trans-Tasman connections, and conference programmes here commonly fold in outdoor and winery experiences alongside formal sessions. Delegates typically fly into Queenstown and transfer by road out to the Arrowtown/Ayrburn area, roughly 20 kilometres from the town centre, with accommodation concentrated in central Queenstown and Arrowtown.
The conference is one of New Zealand's anchor corporate-sector gatherings, drawing several hundred senior finance and investment delegates to the lower South Island each spring. Its consistent choice of the Queenstown area underlines the region's role as a high-value destination for national association conferences, and the multi-day format with dinners and hosted functions makes it a meaningful driver of shoulder-season delegate spend across venues, accommodation and transport.
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