Incorporating te ao Māori into Stewardship

Tem Hall, Arti Prasad, Tawa Campbell-Seymour, and Jodi Hayward speaking on a panel at the RIAA Conference Aotearoa NZ 2023

Te ao Māori and how it relates to stewardship was the topic of a panel at the recent Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) conference. The discussion contained some valuable advice for considering how te ao Māori perspectives and values might apply to your investment approach. This article shares some of those perspectives and aims to help in understanding te ao Maori. 

Investor stewardship is about investors supporting the companies they invest in on critical environmental, social and corporate governance issues. The Aotearoa New Zealand Stewardship Code is a framework which guides investor stewardship in New Zealand, being developed specifically for the New Zealand context, and is the first of its type to incorporate indigenous perspectives.  

The te ao Māori worldview aligns with the principles of effective stewardship, taking a long-term view of guardianship through kaitiakitanga (protection, conservation and guardianship) and whanaungatanga (connection and shared experience). Manaakitanga is another key principle of te ao Māori and expresses how Māori communities foster wellbeing, nurture relationships, and engage with one another. It’s also about caring for the whenua (land) to ensure its wellbeing for future generations.  

Signatories to the Code are encouraged to consider how these principles, including rangatiratanga (self determination) connect with their Stewardship Policy and investment beliefs and practices. Signatories are also encouraged to look at how they incorporate Te Tiriti o Waitangi into stewardship activities.  

Tahito Managing Director Tem Hall, Executive Manager for Māori Financial Solutions at ASB Tawa Campbell Seymour, and Chief Executive of Te Pae Roa Jodi Hayward each gave valuable guidance at the RIAA conference about how investors can start incorporating a te ao Māori worldview.  

Jodi Hayward stressed that organisations should not try to force Māori values because they are the latest thing or to attract money. 

‘Before you go to the how, ask yourself the why. Do it because it’s the right thing to do and it resonates with your organisation.’ 

Tem Hall reflected that Māori values are centered around humility and holistic wellbeing and suggested investors consider how these words resonate within their firm. 

The panelists recommended investors engage support to better understand te ao Māori and stressed the importance of getting the right advice and doing this work properly. Jodi Hayward said there isn’t one easy answer or how-to guide for investors. 

‘You don’t get stuff for free. When you want to innovate, explore or research, generally that costs money. Don’t expect Māori to come to the table to help you understand how Māori values apply to your organisation for free.’ 

Tawa Campbell Seymour gave the example of ASB which took a te ao Māori approach and changed its purpose statement from accelerating the financial progress of all New Zealanders to accelerating the progress of all New Zealanders to promote greater progress across social and environmental factors, in addition to financial progress. The new purpose statement is more aligned with the Māori world view and Tawa says ASB will “continue on the journey.” 

Tem Hall outlined the work of Tahito, a public equities investment fund that has Māori values embedded throughout all decision-making points of the fund. Tahito uses a mixture of its own criteria, as well as some of the more common environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks, to exclude some companies. 

“Obvious exclusions include anything that pokes a hole in Ranginui (sky father) or rips into Papatūānuku (earth mother), high carbon emitters, and other sin stocks.” 

Companies generally engage Māori cultural competency advisors to understand te ao Māori and how it applies to their firm. An example of this is BayTrust - a community trust supporting the Bay of Plenty. The trust owns about $250m in assets, with income distributed to Bay of Plenty community groups through grants and loans. In 2019, BayTrust began work to better understand te ao Māori and now: 

  • acknowledges that New Zealand was founded on the basis of bicultural partnerships;  

  • aims to work together with Māori to ensure a true partnership exists, sharing skills and supporting one another; 

  • will ensure Māori, iwi, hapu and whanau are aware of their rights to make applications to BayTrust, including projects relating to the advancement of te reo Māori and tikanga and are provided with the relevant advice and support. 

Importantly, the trust has also amended its Statement of Investment Policy and Objectives (SIPO) to reflect its commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, now including a long-term objective:  

“Where investing directly in NZ, the Trust will endeavor to ensure its investments align with the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi; partnership, protection and participation. Where investing offshore the Trust where able should consider in particular the principle of protection as recognised in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.” 

Engaging with te ao Maori can bring valuable perspectives to your investment approach, and we encourage investors to start on this journey. Seeking advice and support from Māori advisors can help you stay on the right path and contribute to greater understanding across your business. If you’re ready to start your journey, here are some Māori cultural competency advisors you could reach out to:  

 

About the Stewardship Code 

The Aotearoa New Zealand Stewardship Code is an industry led framework that supports investors to partner with companies to create long term value by responsibly managing their investments. It sets out how institutional investors can best work with companies to minimise risk and maximise resilience in order to increase environmental, social and economic value. For more information, see stewardshipcode.nz or contact info@stewardshipcode.nz. 

Jackson Rowland