{"id":159342,"date":"2025-11-29T08:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T08:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/159342\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T08:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T08:05:11","slug":"maori-queen-launches-multi-million-dollar-investment-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/159342\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u0101ori Queen launches multi-million-dollar investment platform"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Te<\/p>\n

\nTe Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po has launched the new ‘Kotahitanga Fund’.
\nPhoto: Kiingitanga\n<\/p>\n

M\u0101ori Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po has launched the ‘Kotahitanga Fund’, a new multi-million-dollar M\u0101ori investment platform.<\/p>\n

Te Arikinui made the announcement at the inaugural \u014changa ki te Ao M\u0101ori Economic Summit in Hamilton on Saturday.<\/p>\n

In her closing address, Te Arikinui said she was proud to launch the initiative as a “declaration” that M\u0101ori were ready to invest in “ourselves, in our brilliance and in the future we choose”.<\/p>\n

“This fund is more than an investment tool,” she said. “To me, it’s an answer – at least the partial one – to the challenges of leveraging the collective strength and scale of the M\u0101ori economy.<\/p>\n

“It enables us to achieve the scale, to make meaningful change and to grow the $126 billion M\u0101ori economy. No matter how the wind shifts, our course will hold.”<\/p>\n

Some iwi had already pledged support for initial seed funding of approximately $100 million.<\/p>\n

“We will be thoughtful about where we invest,” Te Arikinui said. “Every opportunity must deliver real outcomes for our people and solid returns that grow wealth for generations to come.”<\/p>\n

Holding back tears, Te Arikinui credited late father Kiingi Tuheitia<\/a> for the “vision” behind the new initiative.<\/p>\n

“The vision of the Kotahitanga fund, belongs to him\u2026 and I will do everything in my power to execute this vision.” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Iwi<\/p>\n

\nIwi and business leaders gather for the inaugural \u014changa ki te Ao M\u0101ori Economic Summit
\nPhoto: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira\n<\/p>\n

The announcement marked the end of the \u014changa ki te Ao summit, where more than 200 iwi representatives, business leaders, sovereign wealth fund heads and other delegates gathered at Te P\u0101 on the University of Waikato campus to talk through strategies on advancing indigenous economic initiatives, and growing the M\u0101ori economy.<\/p>\n

They came from across the country, Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Europe and North America – all at the behest of Te Arikinui, who called for the summit during her first Koroneihana speech<\/a> at Turangawaewae Marae in September.<\/p>\n

‘Kohinga Koha’, a M\u0101ori business expo representing 158 marae and businesses from Tainui Waka, ran alongside the summit.<\/p>\n

Among the attendees were former Air New Zealand chief executive and keynote speaker Greg Foran, and former Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr, who moderated a panel discussion on Pacific wealth and investment.<\/p>\n

\"Summit<\/p>\n

\nSummit delegates meet inside Te P\u0101 at Waikato University.
\nPhoto: Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira\n<\/p>\n

Speaking during the summit’s opening address, Te Tari o Te Kiingitanga chairperson Rukumoana Schaafhausen said growing the M\u0101ori economy to $126 billion did not happen through “individual action”, but through “relationships” and “kotahitanga”.<\/p>\n

“Capital flows matter, but I want to suggest something radical.” she said. “The deals will come – they always do, when the foundation is right.<\/p>\n

“What we need first – what the world desperately needs right now – is something much harder to build and infinitely more valuable. We need relationships built on trust, we need shared vision in a time of uncertainty and we need to re-imagine what’s possible, when we work together.”<\/p>\n

\"Ngai<\/p>\n

\nNgai Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Justin Tipa.
\nPhoto: Ngai Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Justin Tipa\n<\/p>\n

Ng\u0101i Tahu chair Justin Tipa was part of a panel discussion on growing indigenous economies. His iwi is one of the wealthiest in Aotearoa, worth more than $2 billion.<\/p>\n

Tipa told RNZ the summit was an opportunity for M\u0101ori to look for investment from overseas.<\/p>\n

“We absolutely must celebrate our own success in achieving thresholds $2-3-billion-dollar organisations – it’s wonderful – but actually on the global scale, it’s insignificant.”<\/p>\n

He said the “real” economic power for M\u0101ori would be in their ability to collectivise.<\/p>\n

“The opportunity for us as iwi M\u0101ori, as hap\u016b M\u0101ori, small medium enterprises, is how do we coalesce together. How do we form strategic alliances that really unlock the opportunities of scale that would pose attractive propositions to the investors that are here engaging with us.<\/p>\n

“There’s an absolute desire to be going out into the world, but it’s also about being in the right position to do so, having the right opportunities and not just growing for growing’s sake.”<\/p>\n

Also in attendance was Duncan Bonfield, chief executive of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, who manage between $8-10 trillion in assets.<\/p>\n

He told RNZ a “collectivised” approach to economics was attractive to members of his organisation.<\/p>\n

“One of the interesting things is that we’re talking to more and more indigenous groups, who are looking to take control of their financial destinies – that’s a movement that’s going on across the world.<\/p>\n

“There’s clearly an effort to unite by the various different iwi and that’s impressive – how that appears to be accelerating.”<\/p>\n

The next Kohinga Koha business expo will be hosted in Tauranga Moana.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po has launched the new ‘Kotahitanga Fund’. Photo: Kiingitanga M\u0101ori…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-159342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}