Chair's Report

He Waka Hourua, he Waka Eke Noa
E mihi ana ki ngā mate kua wheturangitia haere hoki atu
ki hawaiki nui hawaiki roa hawaiki pamamao.
Huri noa ki a tatou te kanohi ora, e mihi ana.
He uri āhau no Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngātiwai
No Te Tai Tokerau ahau
Kei te noho au kei Whangārei Terenga Parāoa
Ko Walter Wells toku ingoa
Tēnā koutou katoa

First, I join my fellow Trustees in recognising the significant lifetime contribution to our region of our friend and former Trustee Brian Corban, who sadly passed away in May this year – e te Rangatira haere atu ki te po nui moe mai ra.

I also wish to start by acknowledging my predecessor as Chair, Bhav Dhillon, whose term as a Trustee ended in August 2021 – ngā mihi maioha for your nurturing leadership and your whole-hearted passion for our communities.

Our 15-year strategy, implemented from April 2018, gives our waka direction as we aim to achieve our vision | moemoeā of Enhanced Lives. From 1 April 2020, we sharpened our intent to impact across four focus areas: Increased Equity | Hāpai Te Ōritetanga, Social Inclusion | Whakaura Mai, Regenerative Environment | Whakahou Taiao and Community Support | Hāpori Awhina.

We recognise that to achieve the desired impact within Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau there is work for our organisation that goes beyond granting - we need to proactively engage with the people and Mana Whenua of our rohe, support communities to increase their readiness to engage, and to strengthen their practices and develop their organisations. An important step was taken in March 2021, when Trustees approved an update to our Trust Deed, to include a specific commitment to have regard to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in interpreting the Trust Deed and in performing our obligations under the Deed. This is a major milestone in our journey as an organisation.

Grants

The Foundation exists for the communities we serve, and for the most part our role is an enabling one. We remain in a heightened state of alert due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, and must also turn our attention, in time, to support for recovery, community resilience, wellbeing and workforce development. I am both humbled and awed by the resilience of our communities as the virus continues to challenge us all; compounding existing issues and stretching our community and voluntary sector to, and in many cases beyond, their limits.

Over the year to 31 March 2021, the Foundation approved 722 grants to not-for-profit organisations and community initiatives. The value of this support was $49.9m ($46.6m in the 2019/20 year). This included a commitment of $2.4m distributed to a range of organisations to support relief, recovery and strengthened community resilience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to its grantmaking activities, this year the Foundation invested $2m through impact-investing platform Community Finance, to support The Salvation Army finance three social housing developments in Auckland. Foundation North also progressed the establishment of an impact investment fund which will be externally managed. Through an initial commitment of $20 million, the Fund will be our primary vehicle for undertaking impact investment.

Capital, Investments and Reserves

Our investment portfolio value grew from $1.346b (at year end 2019/20) to $1.636b at 31 March 2021. For the financial year, the Foundations investment portfolio returned 26.9% (net of fees) relative to a 20.3% return of the benchmark composite return (outperformance of 6.6% over the financial year). As a long-term sustainable investor, the Foundation considers long-term performance and the ten-year return to 31 March 2021 (net of fees) was 8.0% against the benchmark composite return of 6.6%. Overall, the investment portfolio remains well-positioned.

With the exception of the increase in the value of private growth assets, the portfolio is invested in line with our Statement of Investment Policy & Objectives that includes our Responsible Investment policy. We are a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), and our performance against the Principles is measured. In the latest assessment against the UNPRI, the Foundation received an A+ rating for Strategy and Governance and A ratings across all assessed asset classes.

During the year we farewelled Cambridge Associates (Sydney Office) who have guided and advised on the portfolio for over ten years, and we thank them for their service to the Foundation. We have appointed JANA to the asset consultant role, and we look forward to working with them in the coming years.

Our Trustees

Much of this busy year for Trustees, and the Leadership Team, has been taken up with revisions to the Foundation’s Trust Deed and Governance Manual to keep pace with current best practices – I am delighted with the progress we have made, and the collaborative way in which we have worked.

I joined our Board in September 2020 along with Jeet Suchdev. It is particularly pleasing to see that our table is increasingly diverse, with each person bringing a range of experience, connections and insights to our work, ensuring kōrero around the board table remains robust.

In September 2020 we farewelled Trustees Kim Wright and Murray Broadbelt, who along with former Chair John Slater, completed their eight-year terms. The following month, we said goodbye to Trustees Naisi Chen and Vanushi Walters whose terms concluded as they entered Parliament as new MPs. In August 2021 Trustees Chris Severne and Daniel Nakhle joined Bhav in completing their terms as Trustees. I warmly thank you all for your significant contributions to the Foundation and your dedicated service.

It gives me great pleasure finally to welcome new Trustees who boarded our waka in August 2021: Tevita Funaki, Sara-Jane Elika, Hana Maihi, Stephen Park, Nurain Janah, Ling Ling Liang and Stephen Titter – I am excited by the purposeful mahi we will do together towards achieving our moemoeā - Whatītike Oranga.

My thanks to my fellow Trustees, Foundation management and staff, and our wider community of grantees and partners. You all contribute so much to our impactful mahi together.