In addition to implementing a world-first status for a river system, the trust manages well over $100m of financial assets on behalf of Whanganui iwi and has investment and distribution subsidiaries to co-ordinate.
"Ray brought expertise we have not previously had at management level," trust chairman Gerrard Albert said.
"The trust respects Ray's decision to move on in May, noting at the same time that Ray's
departure will leave a big gap to fill.
"Ray has increased the trust's operational reach across central and local government partners and that momentum will need to continue. We've begun a search for a replacement kaihautū, but it will be tough replacing what Ray has brought to the organisation."
Hall is both philosophical and reflective about his time in the role.
"Ideally, I would stay to continue the trust journey, but this has been a family-based decision and reflects my priority for the welfare for my whānau. I hit the ground running in 2019 and it has been an intense, but a worthwhile experience as kaihautū, in a role I have enjoyed immensely," he said.
Four months into his role, Covid-19 alert level 4 was enacted and lockdown saw Hall supporting the iwi-led response as part of the technical leadership team of Te Ranga Tupua, a role that was all the harder for the fact he was a recent arrival to the area.
"Ray excelled in that level 4 environment, working beyond his 9 to 5 role to keep whānau, hapū and iwi he had barely met, safe," Albert said.
After lockdown ceased, Hall began getting to know the beneficiaries of the trust better.
"That is a part of the job I will miss most, the kaumātua, whānau and hapū of Whanganui. I have enjoyed being welcomed onto many marae as kaihautū. The people have given me guidance as an outsider from the north, and hopefully I've been able to give them something in return," he said.
