The new chair of Waikato-Tainui's commercial investment arm Tainui Group Holdings is board member Hinerangi Raumati-Tu'ua.
She succeeds Sir Henry van der Heyden who retires at the end of this month after nine years as a director and chair of TGH.
Raumati-Tu'ua is the first iwi member to chair the company since its establishment in 2003.
Appointed to the TGH board in 2017, she is chair of the Paraninihi Ki Waitotara Incorporation and Moana NZ and a director of Sealord, Watercare and several iwi commercial entities.
She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Her appointment was jointly announced by Linda Te Aho, chair of Te Arataura, the executive committee of the iwi, and van der Heyden, who said as one of New Zealand's most experienced Māori governance professionals, Raumati-Tu'ua brought both continuity and change for TGH.
TGH manages around $950 million of assets, including shares.
Its major projects include current development of the first 92ha of the Ruakura Superhub at Hamilton, due to open mid-next year, construction of new regional headquarters in the city for ACC, and a joint venture with Kiwi Property to redevelop Centre Place North in the CBD.