The reigning Māori monarch, who succeeded her father, Kīngi Tūheitia - after his death in 2024 - has launched multimillion-dollar cultural investment for the economic self-determination of iwi, hapū and whānau peoples in Aotearoa.

In a landmark moment for the Māori economy, the newly-instated Queen Nga wai hono i te po, titled Te Arikinui Kuini, announced the Kotahitanga Fund which promises to draw on the potential to direct $NZ126 billion in capital into future ventures that can deliver sustainable returns.

The 27-year-old Queen's plan for greater intergenerational wealth came at the inaugural Ōhanga ki te Ao (Economy to the World) Māori Economic Summit in Hamilton.

The Kotahitanga fund - seeded by contributions from key iwi Māori entities - aims to marshal collective Māori capital to support business, community enterprise, and development projects.

Queen Nga wai hono i te po said the initiative was a "declaration" that Māori tribes were ready to invest in "ourselves, in our brilliance and in the future we choose".

"This fund is more than an investment tool," she said in a statement of Māori solidarity.

"To me, it's an answer - at least the partial one - to the challenges of leveraging the collective strength and scale of the Māori economy.

"It enables us to achieve the scale, to make meaningful change and to grow our $126 billion Māori economy.

"No matter how the wind shifts, our course will hold."

Some iwi had already pledged support for initial seed funding of approximately $NZ100 million.

The fund is based on pool resources and increase scale, making it easier for Māori communities to compete for large investments and major business opportunities.

It offers a collective Māori-led mechanism for investment while reducing dependency on external funding or government financial support.

Its channel investment also ventures and respects Māori values, supports tikanga customs and promises to generate lasting benefits for whānau and its communities.

"We will be thoughtful about where we invest," Queen Nga wai hono i te po said.

"Every opportunity must deliver real outcomes for our people and solid returns that grow wealth for generations to come."

In an emotional launch two months since her inaugural Koroneihana address which called for the summit as the new Māori Queen, she fought back tears in crediting her late father, Kiingi Tuheitia, for the "vision" behind the initiative.

"The vision of the Kotahitanga fund belongs to him," she proclaimed, "and I will do everything in my power to execute this vision".

More than 200 iwi representatives, business leaders, sovereign wealth fund heads and cultural delegates gathered at Te Pā hub on the University of Waikato campus to talk through strategies on advancing the economic initiatives of the Aotearoa Indigenous people.

Kohinga Koha, a Māori business expo representing 158 marae - a communal and sacred place in Polynesian society - and businesses also ran alongside the summit.

Speaking at the summit's opening address, Te Tari o Te Kiingitanga chairperson Rukumoana Schaafhausen, the head of the Māori King movement, said growing the Māori-inspired economy to $126 billion did not happen through "individual action", but through building up "relationships" and the "kotahitanga", the Māori spirituality.

"Capital flows matter, but I want to suggest something radical," she said.

"The deals will come - they always do, when the foundation is right.

"What we need first - what the world desperately needs right now - is something much harder to build and infinitely more valuable.

"We need relationships built on trust, we need shared vision in a time of uncertainty, and we need to re-imagine what's possible, when we work together."

Wealth funds including the Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund and the Unit Trust of Samoa, both representing significant capital from Pacific islands pensioners and savers, have signalled an interest in aligning with Māori-led investment, citing shared cultural values and long-term intergenerational perspectives on wealth and wellbeing.

For many Indigenous and similar Pacific economies, the Kotahitanga Fund represents a rare opportunity to participate in a pan-Māori economic initiative with a potential global reach.