29/11/2025
Te Arikinui launches $100m Kotahitanga Fund to drive long-term Māori investment.
A new $100 million Kotahitanga Fund aimed at building long-term, intergenerational Māori wealth was launched this evening by Te Arikinui Kuini Nga Wai hono i te po at the Ōhanga ki te Ao Indigenous Economic Investment Summit in Kirikiriroa.
The announcement brought together more than 200 iwi leaders, Māori enterprises and global investment fund managers, and coincided with the Kohinga Koha Māori business expo showcasing 158 marae and businesses from across Tainui Waka.
Kiingitanga spokesperson Rukumoana Schaafhausen said iwi across the motu had pledged significant early support for the fund, which she described as a major step toward scaling Māori participation in the global economy.
“Te Arikinui has announced that the Fund will be applied to deliver real outcomes for our people and solid returns that grow wealth for the generations to come,” she said. “The Fund is grounded in tikanga, sound investment principles, and sustainable returns.”
Former Reserve Bank Governor and current board member of the Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund (CINSF), Adrian Orr, is describing the Kotahitanga Fund as a powerful long-term opportunity for Māori-led investment.
“The genesis of Te Kotahitanga Fund is effectively a Māori sovereign wealth fund,” Orr said. “What we mean by that is it’s intergenerational. It’s an endowment-like fund, and the idea is to invest with a 30+ year horizon in mind and for the rest of the world to co-invest likewise, globally.”
Schaafhausen said the summit had succeeded in uniting people committed to shaping a strong economic future through long-term, values-based investment. “We need to collaborate and pool our resources to achieve the scale needed to participate in the global economy,” she said. “The Kotahitanga Fund is a first step towards that goal.”
In her closing remarks, Te Arikinui announced that Tauranga Moana will host the next Kohinga Koha business expo, providing another platform for iwi to lead, innovate and showcase the growing strength of the $126 billion Māori economy.
By Maioha Panapa | Aukaha News
