NZX chairman Andrew Harmos believes New Zealanders are "ready for some compulsion" in their savings.

The absence of such compulsion was a little difficult to understand, he told the NZX annual meeting in Wellington today.

"I don't need to tell this audience that this is one of the big reasons why there is a wealth and income gap -- and frankly a financial literacy and investment sophistication gap -- between us and Australia," Mr Harmos said.

"In my judgment New Zealanders are ready for some compulsion here, albeit at a more modest level than the Australian (compulsory superannuation) 9 percent and rising. A modest starting level with a steady path of well-signalled increases would be a strong start."

Savings were now insufficient for New Zealanders to control strategic businesses and assets. Owners of those businesses could move head offices, decision making, control and intellectual property, and over time generally did, Mr Harmos said.

He also added his comments to the theme of public minority ownership being allowed into some state owned enterprise.

Before the meeting started, Solid Energy chairman John Palmer told the audience that SOE Solid Energy would benefit from a similar type of ownership to that of Air New Zealand, of which he is also chairman.

Air New Zealand was 75 percent owned by crown, but was also listed and operated by listed company disciplines, Mr Palmer said.

"What I would like to think is that we have proved that a model of a listed company with a majority crown ownership can work."

Mr Harmos said he did not know of anyone who wanted SOEs sold into foreign control and ownership and to frame the debate in those terms was mischievous.

"New Zealand is an outlier in the extent to which Government owns 100 percent of so many key trading enterprises: these are good stable businesses, some of which could be exposed to public minority ownership and the governance and transparency that comes with it," Mr Harmos said.

"It is hard to criticise the Air NZ or Vector models -- and those co-investment models are the ones that fit well into an integrated national savings, capital markets and economic strategy."