Listen Now: 
A Māori business leader says tikanga Māori values can provide a sound guide for investment.
Debbie Birch won this year’s Te Tohu Kahukura Māori Leadership Award from the Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand for her work growing iwi wealth.
Her governance roles include chairing the Raukawa ki te Tonga asset holding company and the Iwi Investor wealth management business, and serving on the boards of Tourism Holdings, Ngāti Awa Group Holdings and Tūwharetoa Hau Rau general partnership.
She also drove the formation of Te Pūia Tāpapa, a $115 million investment fund bringing together 26 iwi and Maori entities, which she says needs to be the model for iwi organisations.
“The problem we have is we are many, many small entities and we need to club together to share resources, share capabilty in order to participate in larger transactions we would not normally have access to,” Ms Birch says.
She says the three ethical pou that guide her investment strategies are people, the planet and prosperity.
RELATED NEWS
