Things you may or may not know about Nick…

The same year Nick was born, John Lennon said, “We [The Beatles] are more popular than Jesus.” Controversially in our household, Nick does NOT like The Beatles.

When Nick was six, his parents embarked upon a seven-week world tour as part of his role as New Zealand President of the Trusteebanks Association, leaving their seven children at home under the care of a nanny. After going through two nannies who were variously bitten, thrown in the pool, and generally treated horribly, the third nanny, Mrs Shalfoon, was the one who stuck. All the children and Mrs Shalfoon were thrilled when Jim and Jan returned from their travels

As a child, Nick suffered from terrible asthma. His father, a lawyer, thought rugby would help his lungs develop. His mother, a nurse, disagreed. Regardless, Nick started playing rugby at age six and would wheeze his way through the matches while his mother watched, tearful and anxious, from the sidelines.

In March 1966, the first episode of Country Calendar, a 15-minute news show for farmers in New Zealand, first aired. Still on the air, it is believed to be the second-longest-running television series in the world, after Coronation Street.

When Nick was born, there was one television signal available in Hamilton, New Zealand: a relay of the Auckland station AKTV2, which broadcast from 2pm until 10pm. However, the Grace family only received their first television when Nick was 10. It was a used black-and-white TV from one of his father’s clients who had passed away and left it to them.

In 1972, when Nick was six, the first live telecast of a rugby match was aired in New Zealand. It was the third test between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park. New Zealand won 38–3. (Nick’s family did not yet have a television set, so he did not watch this.)

In the 1970s, New Zealand children spent hours on outdoor, high-energy games, including Bullrush, Tiggy, Four Square and Elastics.

As a teenager, Nick was selected to spend 10 days sailing on the Spirit of Adventure, a 42.5-metre steel-hulled, three-masted barquentine commissioned in 1986 for youth development. He remembers being cold and wet and almost losing both of his index fingers.

In 1987, the same year Nick graduated from Waikato University in Hamilton, NZ, New Zealand won the first-ever Rugby World Cup.

Nick grew up with large rhododendron trees in his family’s garden. When he got into trouble, he would climb the trees to hide. Though not native to New Zealand, since being introduced by early European settlers, the country has developed a rich history of breeding and cultivating unique rhododendron hybrids.

In 1976, when Nick was 10, the All Blacks toured South Africa in defiance of a United Nations call for a sporting embargo of the republic.

From 1984–1988 New Zealand Finance Minister Roger Douglas introduced neo-liberal economic reforms to the country. “Rogernomics” transformed a heavily regulated economy into a market-led one through floating the dollar, removing subsidies, reducing top tax rates, and privatising state assets. The New Zealand stock market soared.

When he was 16, armed with the money he earned working at a bottle shop, Nick made his first stock market investment, buying shares in the New Zealand conglomerate Rainbow Corp.

In 1984, Nick spent the summer working at the Motunui synthetic gasoline plant near New Plymouth (NZ), testing the joints inside the pipes being installed.

When Nick was 21, he convinced his younger sister’s boyfriend, Greg (now brother-in-law), to co-invest in futures with him. They sold just before Nick and Greg owed money. As a result, Greg had to sell a cow to buy Gerry an engagement ring rather than use the promised riches from investing with Nick.

As Nick started at Waikato University, its student newspaper, The Nexus, wrote: “Many of the other universities in the country adopted political themes such as Big Brother or Nuclear War for their Orientation celebrations; Waikato University wallowed in six days of sheer hedonism – an orgy of music, dancing and booze.” As Nick lived at home with his parents, it is unclear how much of that hedonism he participated in.

In 1988, Nick left New Zealand with his friend Mike Vile to travel around China. With only NZ$1,000 saved, they budgeted $5 per day for living expenses

One of the top hits in New Zealand while Nick was at university was “Slice of Heaven” by Dave Dobbyn and the band Herbs. It didn’t receive much airtime or chart in the US or the UK but was reported as a “massive” hit in Madison, Wisconsin, with the story reported as: “Somebody brought it back from Sydney and handed it to the radio station, and they’ve just been playing it endlessly.”

In 1981, when Nick was 15, New Zealand saw some of its worst civil unrest related to the Springbok tour. As a rugby-crazed teenager, Nick sided with the New Zealand prime minister, Robert Muldoon, who argued, “Politics should stay out of sport.” Nick’s father disagreed and forbade him from going to the matches. Nick went to the 25 July match in Hamilton anyway; however, it was cancelled after a stolen plane was headed to the stadium while protestors invaded the pitch.

Nick graduated from St John’s College in Hamilton when he was 17. He had been deputy head boy and recalls having “very good grades.”

By mid-1987, with a record of 309 companies listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, more than 40% of New Zealand’s adult population owned shares, compared to just 20% of Britons during the same period

During his time at university, Nick actively invested in the New Zealand stock market, which had gone up over sixfold since he started investing in high school. By 1987, Nick’s portfolio was worth approximately NZ$100,000 (~£38,000 then/~£140,000 today), and his mother suggested he sell to help fund his planned gap year after graduating. Nick explained to his mother that she knew nothing about stocks. After the stock market crash in October of that year, Nick’s portfolio was reduced to NZ$1,000.

University education was fully funded by the government in New Zealand until 1989.

In the 1980s, Hamilton, New Zealand – where Nick was studying at the University of Waikato – had a vibrant nightlife, with the main clubs being Candyo’s, Shakes, and the Hilly.  Nick preferred to go to the pub and bring his own bottle of sherry to pour into his glass to save money.