Back in 2018, when I started building National Capital with the goal of helping 1 million Kiwis become financially secure, I based the company on three principles which I hoped would form the bedrock of our organisation’s culture. It would also help us to make the difficult decisions that would invariably crop up in the future.
Clients, shareholders and future employees would know exactly what we stand for based on these three founding principles.
The first of the principles is pūataata — to be transparent.
To be 100% transparent with our clients means that we would let clients know how we got to that advice, if and how we got paid for the advice, and what work we would do for the fees we earn.
Our ethics policy is built on five pillars – Transparency, Client First Decisions, Competence, Confidentiality and Professional Behaviour. Underpinning these five pillars is Integrity. Our ethics policy is outlined here.
The reason for being transparent is trust. There is no currency more important for an advisory company than trust. If our client’s trust us, not only would it make our job easier — but we would be able to achieve better outcomes for the clients’ as they would follow our advice and stick to it more readily.
The best way in building trust is transparency.
The second principle is Tikanga — the correct way.
For us, tikanga simply means doing the right thing.
‘The correct way’ for something, may not be exactly the same for everyone. However, deep inside I think we all know whether something we do is ethical or not. Nevertheless, by having our policies written down in plain English, clients and employees can understand what the correct way means for National Capital.
Doing the right thing by our clients, employees and the community means happier clients, happier employees, and a happier community. If all these are achieved – we call that a success!
The third principle is Taurikura – prosperity.
Rather than fret on how to make National Capital successful, our aim is to spend time working on how to make our clients successful – while knowing full well that one follows the other.
National Capital’s goal is to make our clients – everyday Kiwis – prosperous, not just it’s owners and shareholders.
If a company’s clients are successful, this success will flow on through to the company. If we build a company that does the right thing, is trusted by its clients and helps its clients achieve prosperity – National Capital will be successful.
It doesn’t stop there.
I believe that business is more than just a commercial enterprise. It is an integral part of the community that it is based in. This gives business the same responsibilities as us as individuals – to make a positive contribution to our community.
The ultimate goal of National Capital is to help the community become prosperous – a goal I hope the company caries on striving towards well after we are all gone.
Kia hora te taurikura ki runga i tō whānau — Let prosperity be spread over your family.