Napier council plans investment portfolio to reduce ratepayer burden

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise and Ahuriri Investments Management Limited (AIM) chair Hamish Bell. AIM will manage Napier City Council’s investment portfolio.

Napier City Council has a plan it says will reduce the burden on its ratepayers - moving some of its assets to an investment portfolio to grow wealth.

The new portfolio includes Parklands property development, the commercial leasehold land portfolio, NCC’s 26% shareholding in Hawke’s Bay Airport, and managed funds.

While the council will retain ownership of the assets, it has created Ahuriri Investments Management Limited (AIM) to manage the investment portfolio.

Set-up funds of $750,000 were set aside in the council’s 2024 Three-Year Plan, but so far costs have been tracking well below this, a council spokesperson said.

Mayor Kirsten Wise said the point of it was to grow the assets for future generations.

“Council has been working on this for a couple of years now,” Wise said.

“We recognised that holding the management of these assets within council meant we weren’t getting the most benefit out of them, because we don’t have the right people with the level of expertise, knowledge and skills to take all these assets, and look at them as an overarching investment portfolio.”

AIM will be chaired by director and commercial adviser Hamish Bell, who has an extensive background in finance and investment.

Bell, based in Auckland, has stakeholder management and local government experience and has worked extensively in Hawke’s Bay across a range of areas when he was with ANZ National Bank.

Bell said there were strict guardrails around what AIM could do with the council’s assets.

“The board’s job is primarily to protect the overall value of them, so it can’t just go off willy-nilly and sell things so that we end up with a reduced asset base. Essentially, our job is to protect and grow the assets.

“In a nutshell, we are trying to lower debt and make money for the future,” Bell said.

“It’s a well-tested model nationally and internationally.”

AIM would pay dividends back to the council; however, Bell said that wouldn’t happen instantly.

“This will be, in some regards, a slow burn, but the returns will eventually be used by the council to invest in infrastructure and to ultimately minimise and help to keep rates down.”

The board of five is made up of Bell, two independent directors, Wendie Harvey and Justin Kean, and two council representatives, yet to be appointed, and will operate on a lean investment management model.

Harvey is a former Hawke’s Bay Airport board chair, while Kean is the general manager of asset management at Scentre Group New Zealand.

“I’m confident this team’s blend of technical knowledge and experience, coupled with a passion to see AIM succeed for the benefit of Napier’s ratepayers, makes them the best fit for the board,” Wise said.

Bell said there would be a close working relationship, along with high communication and reporting requirements, that would be made public through council process.

Other Napier mayoral candidates have their say on AIM

Richard McGrath said he would have preferred the investments to be kept in-house.

“Our assets should be managed by Napier councillors and the community, maybe differently but certainly in-house,” McGrath said.

“In saying that, I can’t fault the process the council has gone through in setting it all up.”

Nigel Simpson said he could see the benefits.

“When prudent investing starts to provide returns that reduce the rate burden, Napier ratepayers will understand the benefit of the Council Controlled Investment company (AIM) and the value that the independent directors bring,” Simpson said.

“The independent directors bring skills and experience and see opportunities that elected members don’t.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.