About Us

Meaning behind “NiuLife”

“Niu” refers to the coconut – the tree of life for us Polynesians. The coconut supplies so many essentials for us: the water cleanses and re-energises the body, the milk is widely used for cooking, the flesh is a nutritious food, the logs are used for building, the leaves are used for shelter and to weave household and personal items, as is the shell.

The “niu” in my business name also symbolises my commitment to helping Pacific families, especially first-home buyers, have a “new” life by being able to own their own homes.

Jon Masaga

Owner & Mortgage Adviser

My experience in the industry

I understand how banks operate, because I worked for two of the biggest banks in New Zealand for nine years. I spent the first five years with Westpac Bank, starting out as a bank teller. Motivated by a strong desire to do something more to look after my future and my young family, I began moving up the ladder. Within two years, I was helping families realise their dreams of owning their own homes.

To further my career and expand my knowledge of home lending, I took up a business banking manager role with ANZ Bank. I managed a wide range of business clients including cafés, motels, trades, IT contractors, and developers. It was my job to help get them the finance they needed to purchase their family homes, commercial properties, and new or existing businesses.

The exposure and learnings gained from my time at ANZ gave me the confidence to think about starting my own business as a mortgage adviser, and make a difference by helping more Pacific people to own their own homes. After 12 months of research and planning, I finally got up the courage and resigned in February 2016. I have not looked back since!

My approach

I focus on what can be done rather than what can’t – positives rather than negatives. I’ve experienced the power of having a goal and working steadily toward it, after achieving a Bachelor of Design degree at Massey University in 2004. Looking back, this was the biggest – and most challenging – achievement of my life. I was bred in Porirua, went to Cannons Creek Primary, Brandon Intermediate, and then Porirua College. Most of the kids were Maori or Polynesian.

At university, it was the complete opposite and I may as well have been in another country in terms of how different it was. We had to do a lot of presentations and I struggled with these as well as adjusting to being in the minority. It’s true that there were a few times when I wanted to give up.

None of my immediate family or circle of friends at the time could understand because they didn’t go to uni, so I had to struggle through it alone for much of the time. I had to repeat a couple of papers as well. I made sure I caught them up during the summer, so I could graduate with the group I started with!

What kept me going was my conviction that I needed to show other Polynesians that it can be done; we can get degrees coming from a low-income area.

I had a similar attitude to sport. Playing union through my teens and twenties, I switched to league when I was 30. I really wanted to succeed at the 13-man code. So, I made a plan and stuck to it. Two years later I was picked as a second-rower for the NZ Residents league team – the country’s top domestic representative side for non-professional players.

Meaning behind “NiuLife”

Mission

Understanding

Jon Masaga

My experience in the industry

My approach

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