- The investment function within iwi governance has a specific job: to grow and protect the asset base so that current and future generations benefit from the decisions made today.
Iwi investment portfolios have changed significantly over the past decade. What were once simple, largely passive allocations have become diversified portfolios spanning domestic and international equities, property, private equity, infrastructure, and values-aligned mandates. For many iwi, financial assets have grown to become the second-largest asset class, overtaking primary industries.
This growing sophistication is a governance achievement. Iwi have built professional investment structures, established investment committees, appointed independent directors, and developed increasingly clear frameworks for how investment decisions should reflect tikanga and intergenerational obligations. The governance structures are in place. The question many iwi are now working through is whether their investment advisory arrangements have kept pace with the portfolios those structures are overseeing.
We provide the specialist investment capability that supports this function, working within your governance framework, not alongside it.
The Investment Function Within Your Structure
An outsourced CIO is the equivalent of having a Chief Investment Officer for your organisation. The function provides specialist investment capability, including research, manager selection, portfolio construction, implementation, monitoring, and reporting, within whatever governance framework your rūnanga has established. How much authority is delegated to the investment function is a governance decision your board makes, just as it would with an internal CIO. The role doesn't change. The governance model does.
This distinction matters because most investment advisory models were designed for a corporate governance context: a board of directors, an investment committee, an executive team. Iwi governance is different. The rūnanga sets strategic direction that reflects intergenerational obligations and tikanga. Accountability runs not just to current beneficiaries but to mokopuna and generations beyond. Investment decisions sit within a values framework that goes deeper than an ESG policy.
An investment provider that doesn't understand this framework will default to imposing its own. The reporting will reflect corporate conventions rather than iwi governance needs. The investment recommendations will treat values alignment as a constraint to manage rather than a foundation to build from. The relationship will be structured around the provider's service model rather than the iwi's governance structure.
We work the other way around. The investment function sits within your governance, accountable to your investment committee, reporting in a way that serves your board's oversight needs, and building portfolios that reflect what your iwi has decided matters.
How the Investment Function Integrates with Your Structure
Iwi governance models vary. Some have rūnanga that govern directly. Others have established commercial subsidiaries, holding companies, or separate entities to manage different parts of the asset base. The investment function needs to integrate with the governance structure that exists, not with a template.
The principle is straightforward, regardless of how the governance is arranged: the investment function is accountable to the governance structure above it. Every level of the relationship is accountable to the one above it, and the governance structure is accountable to the iwi.
In practice, this usually involves three layers working together.
Rūnanga or Governance Board
The rūnanga sets strategic direction and the values framework within which all investment activity occurs. It defines what the iwi's intergenerational objectives are, exercises rangatiratanga over the asset base, and is accountable to iwi members. The investment function does not set these parameters. It operates within them.
Investment Committee or Oversight Body
This body provides fiduciary oversight of the investment function. It sets investment policy within the values framework established by the rūnanga, approves strategy, monitors performance, and asks the governance questions that keep the investment function honest. The investment committee reports to the rūnanga.
Investment Function (Outsourced CIO)
This is the specialist capability layer: research, manager selection, portfolio construction, implementation, and reporting. It operates within the mandate set by the investment committee. The level of delegation, how much operational authority the investment function is given, is the investment committee's decision, not the provider's preference. The investment function is accountable to the governance structure above it, not to its own institutional preferences.
The key point of this structure is the direction of accountability. The investment function serves the governance structure. The governance structure serves the iwi. When an investment provider presents its own service model and asks the iwi to fit into it, that accountability runs the wrong way. We start by understanding how your governance works and build the investment function to fit within it.
For iwi that use a different governance arrangement, perhaps a commercial subsidiary with its own board that oversees the investment portfolio, or a holding company structure, the principle still holds. The investment function sits underneath whatever governance body has been given responsibility for investment oversight. We work within that structure.
Values-Aligned Investing
Iwi investment portfolios are shaped by values that predate modern portfolio theory. Kaitiakitanga, the obligation to protect and enhance the natural environment for future generations, is not an ESG overlay. It is a foundational principle that influences which investments are appropriate, how risk is understood, and what “performance” means in the context of intergenerational stewardship.
For many iwi, the challenge is not whether to invest in a values-aligned way. That is already decided by tikanga. The challenge is how to do it with institutional rigour: how to translate broad values commitments into specific investment policy, how to select and monitor managers who genuinely embed those values rather than just marketing them, and how to report on values alignment alongside financial performance.
- Within the Shaw and Partners New Zealand group, TAHITO provides a Māori-values ethical investment approach through Te Tai o Rehua Fund, grounded in tikanga Māori principles.
This is not an ESG product relabelled for an iwi audience. It is an investment capability built from te ao Māori, developed by practitioners who understand the difference.
This embedded capability means that when we work with iwi on values-aligned investing, the conversation starts from shared understanding, not from a brochure. We can integrate TAHITO's approach where it fits, draw on broader values-aligned and impact investing capability where it is needed, and build portfolio solutions that reflect what your iwi has decided matters, not what a global ESG framework prescribes.
How We Work with Iwi
The level of investment support we provide is shaped by each iwi's governance needs and the capacity of its existing investment oversight structures. We offer three approaches, and iwi can move between them as circumstances change.
Advice Only
We provide independent investment advice, research, and governance frameworks. Your investment committee makes all decisions and manages implementation. This works well for iwi with strong internal investment capability who want specialist input alongside their own analysis.
Partial Delegation
Your investment committee sets strategic direction within the values framework established by the rūnanga. We handle the elements the committee chooses to delegate, which may include manager selection and monitoring, portfolio rebalancing, transition management, or reporting. The scope of delegation is tailored to your governance capacity and preferences.
Full Delegation
The rūnanga and investment committee agree risk appetite, investment objectives, and the values framework. We are accountable for the investment function within those parameters: portfolio construction, manager oversight, implementation, and reporting. The board maintains governance oversight and the authority to adjust the framework at any time.
It is worth stating plainly that delegation without oversight is not good governance in any context. It is particularly important in iwi governance, where the accountability obligations are intergenerational and the values framework is foundational. Full delegation means delegating the operational complexity of the investment function. It does not mean delegating governance responsibility. The rūnanga and investment committee retain the authority and the obligation to ensure the investment function is operating within the framework they have set.
Our companion pages on the spectrum of support and our approach explore these models in detail.
