Governance
The Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust (the Trust) is a Charitable Trust established pursuant to the Energy Companies Act 1992. It is incorporated under the Charitable Trust Act 1957 and the Charities Act 2005.
Role of the Board
The Trust’s six Trustees are elected by voters from within the voting district of the Trust on a triennial basis. They are responsible for the direction and supervision of the Trust’s business. The Trust aims to help create positive change in Rotorua. Central to this is an investment approach that looks to balance the needs of today while maintaining a legacy for the future.
In meeting this responsibility, the Board approves the adoption of appropriate strategies and objectives and reviews the performance of the Trust against these objections. They also approve operating and grant budgets and review operating performance against budgeted performance.
Delegation of authority
The formulation and implementation of reporting procedures, other than those reserved specifically for the Board, are delegated to management. The Board monitors that delegation as part of the formal business of the Board meetings.
Conflicts of interest
It is recognised that Trustees have a wide range of involvement in the Rotorua district community and as such, the potential for conflict will arise from time to time. In order to cover this eventuality, Trustees who disclose their involvement or relationship with organisations will have the opportunity to respond to any questions from Trustees in respect of any matters in which they have declared an interest, but will leave the meeting before any final discussions or deliberation and voting occur.
Investment
Investment decisions relating to the Trust’s Perpetual Capital Fund are undertaken in accordance with the Statement of Investment Policies and Objectives, which the Trustees have determined. With the exception of certain legacy investments, which are being exited over time, management of the Trust’s investment portfolio has been undertaken by Mercer (NZ) Ltd since 1 April 2015.
Grants
Grant requests are received and processed by management. The requests, together with management recommendations, are presented to the Board for formal decision. At the start of each financial year, the Board determines the allocation and level of grant funding to various sectors. The Board also appoints individual Trustees to represent these sectors at monthly Board meetings.
Committees
The Board has established three sub-committees to assist with the Trust’s operation.
- Executive
- Audit
- Investment
Committees
Executive
This committee is responsible for:
- Monitoring the systems of corporate governance
- Establishing and reviewing the remuneration policy for the Board
- Reviewing the Chief Executive’s performance and remuneration.
AUDIT
This committee is responsible for:
- Identifying, assessing, and managing business and organisational risk, and assisting the Board in the discharge of its financial reporting responsibilities
- Reviewing the effectiveness of internal control systems
- Providing a formal forum for the Board, auditors and staff
- Ensuring the Board meets financial reporting requirements and that external reporting of information is of a high quality.
Investment
This committee is responsible for:
- Reviewing the Trust’s Investment Policy and SIPO (statements of investment policy and objectives) annually and assisting the Board in assessing and updating as necessary, these strategic documents
- Identifying and providing information about investment opportunities, trends, and any potential issues
- Working with the Trust Manager in monitoring and reviewing the Trust’s investment performance
- Developing a strategic framework for local impact investment and implementation and monitoring of due diligence processes for each opportunity considered
| Trustee | Meetings | Attended |
| Tamati Coffey | Board: 6, AGM | 6 |
| Jo-Anne La Grouw | Board: 7 | ICM: 1 (in attendance), AGM | 7 |
| Stewart Edward | Board: 11 | ICM: 4, AGM | 15 |
| Merepeka Raukawa-Tait | Board: 9 | ICM: 4, AGM | 13 |
| Mike Keefe | Board: 10 | ICM: 1 (in attendance), AGM | 10 |
| Gregg Brown | Board: 11 | ICM: 4, AGM | 15 |
| Catherine Cooney | Board: 4 | 4 |
| Fisher Wang | Board: 4 | 4 |
Note: In November 2022, the Trust had its triennial election, changing who held the six vacancies as a trustee at Rotorua Trust. The Trust acknowledges Tāmati Coffey’s contribution as Deputy Chairperson for two terms (2013-2016 and 2016-2019) and Jo-Anne La Grouw’s 18 years of service to the Trust. Following the results of the 2022 election, we welcomed Catherine Cooney and Fisher Wang as trustees for the 2022-2025 term.
The Chairperson also meets with the Trust Chief Executive approximately 50 times weekly in the 2022/23 financial year.