Using the Māori ethos and ethics to find a apace in business. Photo / Supplied
Using the Māori ethos and ethics to find a apace in business. Photo / Supplied
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
An innovative Māori values-based investing company is taking indigenous knowledge into the finance space, to create a world for "mokopuna to thrive".
Paving the way in indigenous ethical and sustainable investing, Tahito Limited celebrated its first birthday but has been operating for three years.
Temuera Hall, of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, is the founder and managing director of Tahito. With more than 20 years of experience in finance and investing, he attributes his success to his upbringing in te ao Māori, specifically through his iwi.
Hall says the essence of Tahito is the Māori-based value of living in harmony with nature.
"We can't fix our problems using the same thinking we use to create them, we're bringing in a different type of thinking - indigenous thinking, it's measuring behavioural change," Hall said.
Tahito has a fund called Te Tai o Rehua, and it is an Australasian equities fund that has been outperforming its benchmark of New Zealand and Australian stock markets (50 per cent NX50 portfolio index / 50 per cent ASX200 accumulation index).
Hall says the past three years have seen global issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic, protests against systemic bias and racial injustices, geopolitical matters and strong inflation pressures affecting the Australasian markets.
Temuera Hall is the founder and managing director of Tahito Limited. Photo / Supplied
Plus the New Zealand share market has fallen 12.2 per cent in 12 months. This decrease reflects the rise in interest rates and the situation that 12 months ago, the New Zealand market was trading on very expensive valuations.
Hall says despite the hurdles, Tahito holds its indigenous values as a basis for its business ethos and proves it to be working.
"It's bringing Māori thinking into the finance world, which is quite foreign and challenging, but we've made a start and we're performing well," Hall says.
As awareness in climate change and sustainability intensifies, Tahito has seen the world looking toward indigenous cultures, values and sustainability practices for solutions.
The Tahito investment philosophy focuses on providing high-quality ethical investment services to investors and companies that meet their stringent Māori ethical screening tests.
Māori ethics put people and the environment first as both are fundamental to living and thriving. The quintessential ancestral Māori worldview centres on connection and the interdependence of all things.
Tahito wants to work with companies and investors that show a low environmental impact and high level of social and corporate responsibility.
"Effectively what we do is we're measuring aroha connection, it's on the premise that you increase aroha, then you'll increase the mauri, and of course the more mauri you have the more life feels better."
He says bringing about change requires "significant quantum shift and transformation".
"If we want to leave this world a better place for our mokopuna, so that it's healthy, where they can thrive, then we have to bring about change."
