Bonus Bonds lifts top monthly prize to $1 million

MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release Wednesday 9 May 2007

Bonus Bonds lifts top monthly prize to $1 million

One lucky New Zealander will wake up to a vastly different financial future today as Bonus Bonds creates its first millionaire.

A revamp of the 37-year old Bonus Bonds tradition has seen the top monthly prize increase this month to $1 million from $300,000, with the results of the first prize draw that includes a top prize of $1 million being published today.

All prize draw winners will receive notification by mail, with letters expected to arrive in mailboxes from Tuesday. However those that miss out should not be too disappointed, as there is always next month, when the $1 million prize will be drawn again, as well as over 200,000 smaller denomination prizes which are drawn monthly.

Head of Bonus Bonds, Mark Pickering said “we asked our Bondholders and the general public what they wanted from Bonus Bonds, and the clear message was that most prefer a top prize of $1 million, as well as the many other smaller prizes,”

Nearly a quarter of New Zealanders own Bonus Bonds. The last time the top prize was increased was in 1996 when it went to $300,000.

“Bonus Bonds are easy, once you buy them and have held them for a complete calendar month, those bonds are automatically entered into each monthly prize draw for as long as you continue to hold them” he says

If you are one of the lucky winners, you will receive the whole tax paid cash amount, as the prize amounts are never split,” he says.

“Bonus Bonds make an excellent gift. What other gift gives you an ongoing chance to win $1 million?”

Statistically the chance for a Bondholder to win a cash prize in each monthly draw is between 1 in 9,600 and 1 in 11,000.

“With a lottery ticket, the money you pay for the ticket is gone once the draw has been completed. To enter another draw you have to buy a new ticket, so the money is spent – not saved. But with Bonus Bonds, not only are you in with a chance to win cash every month, but you’re saving money at the same time,” Mr Pickering says.

Bonus Bonds will present a $1 million prize to one winning Bondholder every month as part of a total tax-paid monthly prize pool of over $6 million – made up of more than 200,000 individual cash prizes.

The pool for the May prize draw is made up of:

$ 1 million 1 prize
$100,000 1 prize
$50,000 1 prize
$5,000 62 prizes
$500 200 prizes
$100 1,568 prizes
$50 30,912 prizes
$20 208,550 prizes

That’s 241,295 tax-paid prizes totalling $7,433,400 for May!

For the year ending 30 September 2006, Bonus Bonds paid out over 2,788,000 cash prizes, totalling over $80 million. All prizes are tax paid.

Bonus Bonds was launched in 1970 by the Government to provide a fun way for New Zealanders to save. At the time it was one of the few non-bank savings options available. The Bonus Bonds Trust funds are primarily invested in low-risk debt securities such as Government securities, selected local body securities, selected corporate bonds, and securities issued by banks. Bondholders can redeem their Bonds (ie take their money out of the Trust) at any time.

Anyone wanting to check if they own Bonus Bonds can do so easily. ANZ customers registered for Phone Direct can check on their bond holdings and update their records by calling 0800 103 123. Others may call into an ANZ branch with one form of current New Zealand-issued photo ID (drivers licence, passport, photo credit card etc).

For more information about Bonus Bonds and a copy of the registered prospectus and Bonus Bonds terms and conditions, go to www.bonusbonds.co.nz or any ANZ branch or local PostShop.

A minimum purchase of $20 of Bonus Bonds is required. Bonus Bonds are units in the Bonus Bonds Trust and are not deposits or other liabilities of any member of ANZ, part of ANZ National Bank Limited. The principal and returns of Bonus Bonds are not guaranteed and are subject to investment risk. Bonus Bonds investment portfolio is rated AAAf* by Standard & Poor’s, which indicates that “The trust fund’s portfolio holdings provide extremely strong protection against losses from credit defaults”. However, a fund credit rating issued by Standard & Poor’s is and must be construed solely as a statement of opinion and not a statement of fact or recommendation to purchase, sell or hold Bonus Bonds. Further important rating information is disclosed in the registered prospectus. A copy of the registered prospectus and Bonus Bonds terms and conditions are available at any ANZ branch or your local PostShop. ANZ Investment Services (New Zealand) Limited is manager and promoter of the Bonus Bonds Trust.

ANZ Investment Services (New Zealand) Limited

*Fund credit quality ratings, which range from ‘AAAf’ (highest level of protection) to ‘CCCf’ (lowest level of protection), are identified by the subscript ‘f’ for fund, and represent Standard & Poor’s assessment of the overall quality of a fund’s portfolio holdings.

ENDS

www.bonusbonds.co.nz

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