What Sapere does

Sapere Research Group Limited is a privately held, New Zealand-incorporated economic advisory, strategy, forensic accounting, and valuation firm operating across Australia and New Zealand. Founded in 1997, Sapere delivers independent expert testimony, strategic policy advice, regulatory cost-benefit analysis, evaluations, financial modelling, and valuation services through seven offices in Auckland, Wellington, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

The firm organises its work around eight integrated service lines: Forensic Services, Valuations, Strategy and Business Cases, Regulatory and Cost-Benefit Analysis, International Arbitration, Financial Modelling, Evaluations, and Economic and Market Analysis. Delivery relies on senior economists, managing consultants, and principals, with technical work centred on econometric modelling, financial modelling, regulatory impact assessment, and large-dataset analysis (including access to Stats NZ's Integrated Data Infrastructure) rather than proprietary software products.

Sapere earns revenue through project-based consulting engagements with engagement-specific pricing; rates are not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, with senior directors originating work directly with central government agencies, regulators, major law firms, and select corporate and NGO clients across Australasia. Notable recurring clients include the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Health New Zealand / Te Whatu Ora, Whakarongorau Aotearoa, Te Waihanga / New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Insurance Australia Group NZ, and the Penington Institute.

Name

Sapere

Legal name

Sapere Research Group Limited

Website

https://srgexpert.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Sapere is a privately held Australasian economic advisory firm delivering independent expert testimony, valuation, regulatory cost-benefit analysis, and policy advisory to government agencies, regulators, and law firms across New Zealand and Australia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Consulting Services: Sapere generates revenue through project-based consulting engagements providing independent economic analysis, forensic accounting, valuations, regulatory advice, and expert testimony to government agencies, law firms, and corporate clients across Australia and New Zealand.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Sapere is an independent economic advisory, strategy, forensic accounting and valuation firm delivering expert testimony, policy advisory, and research services across Australia and New Zealand. Its services span forensic accounting and litigation support, business and intangible asset valuations, strategy and business case development, regulatory and cost-benefit analysis, international arbitration support, financial modelling, programme evaluation, and economic and market analysis. Engagements are delivered as project-based consulting mandates by specialist consultants to government agencies, law firms, regulators, and corporate clients.

Product overview

Sapere is a leading economic advisory, strategy, forensic accounting and valuation firm in Australia and New Zealand. The firm operates as a unified service offering centered on independent expert testimony, strategic advisory, and research services. Its core portfolio comprises eight integrated service lines: Forensic Services (accounting, modelling and valuation for legal proceedings), Valuations (business and asset valuation), Strategy & Business Cases, Regulatory & Cost-Benefit Analysis, International Arbitration support, Financial Modelling, Evaluations, and Economic & Market Analysis. These services are delivered by specialist consultants who provide clients with direct access to expert analysis across government, industry, and legal settings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Forensic Services Independent forensic accounting, modelling and valuation services provided to companies and legal counsel in courts in Australia, New Zealand and internationally.
• Valuations Specialists in valuing businesses, shares, debt, derivative securities and intangible assets for financial reporting, taxation, unit pricing, disputes, acquisitions and group reconstruction.
• Strategy & Business Cases Economic analysis and advice to support complex strategy and business case development, including financial modelling and economic impact assessment.
• Regulatory & Cost-Benefit Analysis Specialist support and advice for government departments, regulators and regulated entities, including regulatory system design and detailed modelling.
• International Arbitration Expert testimony and litigation support for large and complex international arbitrations.
• Financial Modelling Financial modelling services providing clear and accessible information tailored to clients' needs.
• Evaluations Independent evaluation of policies, programmes and services, from rapid in-flight reviews to complex, large-scale and multi-year evaluations.
• Economic & Market Analysis Expert economic and market analysis across public policy, competition and investment decision-making.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1737 mental health helpline delivers 9:1 social return on investment
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• TiriaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2025Sapere partnered with Tiria to undertake a formative evaluation of the Regional Infrastructure Fund for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The partnership combined Sapere's economic advisory expertise with Tiria's capabilities to deliver the evaluation during early stages of fund implementation.
• Te Waihanga / New Zealand Infrastructure CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSapere has been engaged by Te Waihanga for multiple projects including infrastructure consenting analysis for climate targets. The engagement involves policy research and analysis supporting infrastructure development and climate adaptation goals.
• Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSapere has conducted multiple engagements for MBIE including earthquake-prone building system evaluation, Regional Infrastructure Fund evaluation, and electricity market analysis. These represent ongoing strategic advisory relationships.
• Health New Zealand | Te Whatu OracoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSapere has been engaged by Te Whatu Ora for significant health policy work including capitation funding formula redesign and aged care sector strategic assessment and funding review. These engagements represent substantial policy advisory relationships.
• Whakarongorau Aotearoa / New Zealand TelehealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSapere has been engaged multiple times by Whakarongorau including Healthline economic value assessment and Social Return on Investment analysis of the 1737 mental health helpline service.
• Insurance Australia Group (IAG) NZminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSapere was commissioned by IAG NZ to examine central government spending on natural hazards, producing analysis on spending patterns and fiscal implications.
• Penington InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSapere was engaged by the Penington Institute to model the economic, fiscal, and regulatory impacts of a public-health-led recreational cannabis market for Victoria, Australia.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• NERA Economic Consulting: Global economics consultancy specialising in independent economic analysis, regulatory economics, and expert testimony for litigation and arbitration. Sapere's Australian Director David Graham previously held a senior role there, and the two firms compete directly for the same expert-witness and regulatory advisory mandates.
• Castalia: Specialist economic and infrastructure advisory firm with offices in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, focusing on regulation, PPP and infrastructure economics. Highly comparable specialist economics consulting offering in the same ANZ markets as Sapere.
• Charles River Associates: Global consulting firm focused on economics, finance and expert testimony for litigation and regulatory matters. Direct comparator for Sapere's forensic accounting, valuation, and international arbitration service lines.
• Oxera: Economics consultancy specialising in regulation, competition and valuation across energy, digital and infrastructure sectors. Compares directly with Sapere's regulatory cost-benefit analysis, energy advisory (Toby Stevenson) and valuation capabilities.
• Frontier Economics: Specialist economics consultancy competing in regulatory economics, competition policy and litigation support globally. Comparable expert-witness and economic-modelling capabilities that Sapere positions against in international arbitration and competition engagements.
• Deloitte Access Economics: Economic advisory practice of Deloitte providing policy, regulatory and forecasting analysis across Australia and New Zealand. Sapere's Director David Graham was previously a Partner there, and Deloitte Access Economics is one of the closest direct competitors for government policy and cost-benefit work in ANZ.

Emerging players

• AlixPartners: Global advisory firm with significant forensic accounting, disputes and valuations capability. Competes with Sapere in expert-witness, forensic accounting and complex dispute work, but with much broader restructuring and turnaround service lines.

Broad incumbents

• KPMG Australia / New Zealand (Advisory): Global advisory firm competing for government regulatory, valuation and forensic work in Australia and New Zealand. Broader portfolio than Sapere but directly competes for many of the same public-sector and law-firm mandates.
• PwC Australia / New Zealand (Advisory): Big-4 advisory practice with large economics, policy and forensic accounting teams across ANZ. Overlaps with Sapere on regulatory advisory, forensic accounting, valuations and government engagements, but as part of a much broader portfolio.
• EY-Parthenon: Strategy and transaction advisory arm of EY providing valuations, economic analysis and policy advice to governments and corporates. Overlaps with Sapere on valuations, strategy/business case work and regulatory analysis as part of a much wider service portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sapere-research-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sapere