Craigs Investment Partners announces new employee benefits

Craigs Investment Partners (Craigs) has announced new employee benefits, including pay top-ups for primary carers on parental leave, volunteer days, health insurance, and immediate access to sick, family violence and bereavement leave for new starters.

Craigs’ Head of People and Performance, Angie Smith, says the policies reflect the company’s goal to create an exceptional people experience aligned to its values.

“Craigs is a people-led business, and we know the personalised service experience we deliver sets us apart in our industry. Creating an environment where our people feel valued and engaged is essential to our success. With this in mind, we have reflected on our existing employee benefits and our values to see where we can do better.”

From October this year, Craigs will top up IRD payments so that employees who take primary carer’s leave will receive 100 per cent of their pay for the first 26 weeks of their leave. Smith says the change, which will primarily affect female employees, aligns with Craigs’ wider commitment to women in the traditionally male-dominated world of financial services.

As part of that commitment, Craigs partners with Global Women – a non-profit organisation encouraging and facilitating the development of women. Craigs also co-designed and sponsors the Craigs Women in Business Scholarship with the University of Waikato, and has run the Craigs Women’s Wealth programme to empower women with the knowledge and confidence to invest for over 15 years.

From October, employees will also receive a paid day of volunteer leave each year, which employees have voted to name the ‘Craigs Community Day’, to contribute their time to support events, charities or causes.

“Community support is central to Craigs’ identity and values, so it is only fitting that we enable our people to participate,” says Smith. “Through our workplace giving initiative and partnership with the Community Foundations of NZ, employees have been able to financially contribute to causes alongside Craigs for several years. Now we are supporting them to contribute their time as well with the Craigs Community Day.”

Smith says providing employees with health insurance from January next year, as well as making sick, family violence and bereavement leave immediately available to new starters (forfeiting the six month wait period), reflects Craigs’ people-led values and makes a meaningful difference for employees. 

“At the end of the day, we want our people to feel valued and supported in their unique circumstances. We want their experience to be positive so that we can attract, develop, and retain fantastic people who add value to our business and for our clients.”

Craigs is one of New Zealand’s largest investment advisory firms, employing over 600 people across 19 locations. Around 250 employees are based in the Tauranga head office, with more than 180 qualified investment advisers in offices from Kerikeri to Invercargill.

Market Insights enewsletter

Keep up to date with our fortnightly Market Insights enewsletter. Our research team provide timely and regular commentary and analysis on market developments, understanding investment jargon, and the impact of current events.

Subscribe Now