Ngai Tahu among top iwi financially

WELLINGTON: Iwi are a growing financial force to be reckoned with, according to a new report showcasing some of their success over the past five years.

The Aucklandbased Ngati Whatua a Akei and the South Island’s Ngai Tahu stand out in TDB Advisory’s ‘‘Iwi Investment Sector’’report, with an average annual return on their assets of 15% and 12%, respectively.

Tainui, the secondlargest iwi, with $1.4 billion worth of property assets, had an average annual return of 7%.

TDB director Phil Barry said iwi success was due to their being well run and having longterm strategies.

‘‘Generally, they’ve done well because, I think, they’ve had good governance structures in place,’’ Mr Barry said.

‘‘Over time, they’ve looked to diversify into a range of lowtomedium risk investments.

‘‘They haven’t been driven by shortterm financial performance and they’ve been reinvesting their surplus.’’

Ngati Whatua is one of Auckland’s biggest commercial property owners, and Ngai Tahu has a broad range of investments from property to tourism in the South Island.

In the report, TDB compared the performance of eight of the country’s largest iwi between 2013 and 2018, which oversaw a total of $5.5 billion worth of assets.

Each of the iwi, except Northland’s Ngapuhi, have received millions of dollars from the Crown from Treaty settlements dating back to 1995.

Mr Barry said it was a matter for debate whether the iwi were successful because they had a sizeable financial head start.

The KiwiSaver and stateowned investment agencies such as the ACC and NZ Super Fund would look to iwi for ideas following the report, he said.

However, some iwi included in the report fell well below the average annual return benchmark of 8.5%.

Ngati Porou, on the East Cape, returned an average of 4% on its $243 million worth of financial assets in the five years to 2018, and the Bay of Plenty’s Ngati Awa had the same result with its property investments.