Choosing the right legal structure is the most critical decision for any venture. The right setup protects you on your journey, while the wrong one can leave you exposed to the elements.

This article uses the metaphor of the waka to explore how to structure your pakihi for success and resilience in Aotearoa. We touch on how a 'fleet' approach, and layering entities, can provide ultimate asset protection and tax efficiency.

Over the next decade, New Zealand will work through one of the most significant transfers of business wealth in its history. A key driver is demographics: around 68 percent of New Zealand's small business owners are aged 50 or over. This aging ownership profile is creating a succession wave that will see thousands of businesses change hands, with poor planning potentially risking trillions of dollars over the next 20 years.

For Māori, this wave is unfolding inside a rapidly growing and dynamic economy. The Māori asset base reached $126 billion in 2023, and entrepreneurship is flourishing, with the number of Māori employers and self-employed surging by 31% and 49% respectively between 2018 and 2023.

The Office of the Auditor-General released its report Improving the public service's capability to engage with Māori on 23 April 2026. The report examined what progress public service agencies have made on a five-year-old statutory obligation, and the answer it gave is a familiar one for anyone working at the intersection of legal frameworks and operational practice.

This post covers what the report examined, the headline findings, and what we think it means for Crown agencies and for Māori organisations engaging with them.

The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 replaced the long-standing 1908 Act. Every existing incorporated society had to re-register under the new framework or be deemed to have ceased to exist. For Māori organisations operating under IS structure (marae committees, kapa haka rōpū, sports clubs, hapū-aligned entities) the new framework brought specific requirements that are worth understanding even now the formal window has closed.

This post covers what the Act required, the deadline, what to do if you've missed it, and what we found mattered most when we supported Māori organisations through the process.