Iho taketaketia tō kaupapa – Know what you’re doing before you do anything. 

This is one of the many Māori proverbs from our Tipua (ancestors) to help guide us through our short existence on Papatūānuku (Nurturing Earth). We are but descendants of those who have gone before us. Ultimately, we are the descendants of Ranginui (the Sky Father that provides energy in the forms of light and water, and Papatūānuku who nurtures and grows her children by providing nutrients, minerals, stability, shelter and protection). 

He Kupu Arotaki: Introduction

TAHITO is a unique way of measuring companies using Māori ancestral knowledge combined with sophisticated ESG data capture technology and strong financial analysis. To date, the Fund has outperformed its benchmark, despite Covid-19 and the current flight from growth to value stocks. So far, we are proving that you can invest to a high ethical, sustainable standard and receive a competitive return on investment. 

As awareness in climate change and sustainability intensifies, the world is increasingly looking toward indigenous cultures, values and sustainability practices for solutions. Arguably it is the loss of connection that underpins the major issues we face across the world, from climate change to loneliness. We believe that by re-connecting people and the environment you can drive positive change in socio-economics, finance and all societal behaviours. 

TAHITO is a new global story of diversity equity and sustainability. We are building upon the momentum created by the global initiatives of the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. These international organisations have created a platform for indigenous values to be a solution to global challenges, as evidenced in recent IPBES and IPCC reports.

TAHITO Ltd is the pōtiki (youngest member) of the Investment Services Group (ISG) whānau (https://investgroup.co.nz/). ISG manages over $5.5 billion in client funds.

After two years of R&D, in October 2019 we launched our first product, the TAHITO Te Tai ō Rehua (Trans-Tasman) Fund.  Key features of the Fund include:  no fossil fuels or fossil fuel reserves, a very low carbon footprint, measurement of diversity in governance and senior management, high ESG quality, an emphasis on community support and engagement, active management, and strong financial analysis.
 

Measuring Aroha - Connection

We may boast about descending from a long line of warrior chiefs, but in reality we descend from a long line of star gazers and great ocean sailors. Our ancestral knowledge comes from many centuries of in-depth observation of nature and astronomy. It’s the same knowledge set that enabled our ancestors to traverse and thrive across the vast Pacific Ocean. 

The Māori worldview is relational and interconnected, and its foundation is captured in whakapapa, or genealogy. It is the intrinsic understanding of connection: ‘everything is interrelated, nothing exists of itself’. We call this ‘collective self-intelligence’: when you look through this lens, you will understand the Māori world view.   

The base Māori principle states that people, sky, land, ocean and environment are one. It brings all your connections to you as part of your family. It is from these genealogical lines and narrative that we identify our indigenous virtues, qualities and behaviours. 

As Māori we believe that life force is fed by connection. We define Mauri as life force and Aroha as connection; which means that Aroha feeds Mauri. At a very simple level we are measuring Aroha, for it is Aroha and Mauri that give whakapapa its energy. Thus, by increasing your Aroha (your level of connectivity), you increase your Mauri (or life force), and we are on track to making the world a better place.

The indigenous Māori worldview ultimately follows nature’s models:

• Its ethics strive for balance and consensuality. 
• Its behaviour is complementary and co-operational. 
• Its target is reciprocity and harmony.

It is from within the depths of this indigenous knowledge set that we derive our TAHITO investment measures. 
 

Te Kōwhiringa Tapu o TAHITO: The Careful Selection Process

We apply a positive screening process consistent with our holistic world view. For the purpose of application, we have derived nine initial value statements:

1. Whanaungatanga – tō ao - Relational  
   
2. Whakapapa- tō mana - Interdependent 
3. Whakarongo – tō hiwa - Balanced  
4. Whakatau – tō kaha - Consensual
5. Honotahi – tō wairua - Complementary 
6. Utu – tō mauri - Reciprocal 
7. Mahitahi – tō tapu - Co-operational  
8. Humarie – tō mārama - Harmony  
9. Kawa – tō ora - Cyclical 

In effect, we identify companies that are leaders in their evolution toward sustainable and regenerative social and environmental behaviours. We measure behaviours by looking for companies that:

1. Display connectivity and value relationships
2. Are serious about ethics and values 
3. Hold people and the environment in high priority
4. Are open and transparent
5. Are strong on equity and diversity
6. Care for and give back to the local communities
7. Have strong competent leaders with a high awareness
8. Are willing to compromise, adapt and engage new ideas
9. Have long term intergenerational and sustainable growth potential

We have more than 50 quantitative and qualitative measures in the Te Kōwhiringa Tapu positive screening system. Quantitative measures integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors on a values basis. We use the MSCI ESG Manager for ESG data supported by our own research. The qualitative data is from our direct research. We combine these quantitative and qualitative measures to arrive at our TAHITO score or ‘T Score’ for each company. 

We also carry out negative screens to check that no undesirables have slipped through our positive screening process. Where possible, we have aligned the negative screens with the physical and mental health issues face by many indigenous people.  Our negative screens include: