In this first quarter of 2025, I have had some engagement with the Honorable Chris Bishop, Minister for Infrastructure, as well as opposition spokespeople for Infrastructure, Local Government, Transport and Finance. I do believe that Āpōpō, along with industry leaders such as Te Waihanga, is slowly but surely starting to change the mindset of decision makers to realise that Asset Management is an essential contributor to achieving our country’s collective desired quality of life – as enabled by our infrastructure assets.
Minister Bishop, in a March 2025 speech to the Government’s Infrastructure Investment Summit said:
My sixth, and final priority is strengthening asset management.
Last year, I was shocked to hear that New Zealand is ranked fourth to last in the OECD for asset management, and dead last for the metric on Accountability and Professionalism.
One of the biggest challenges facing New Zealand’s infrastructure is the cost and resources we need to repair and replace assets that are wearing out.
The Infrastructure Commission tells me that 60 cents of every dollar spent on infrastructure should be going towards asset maintenance and renewals.
I’m determined to improve asset management.
So, to drive change, shortly, I’ll be exploring options around long term capital planning, asset management plans, mandatory reporting on standardised metrics, upskilling opportunities, accountability for poor performance, minimum standards, and stronger regulatory scrutiny and monitoring for government agencies.
Everything is on the table.
This Ministerial focus is certainly welcome and is matched by opposition MP’s being very interested in the specific Government Agencies whose CE’s attested in July 2024 to partial or non-compliance with the asset management requirements of Cabinet Office Circular 23(9).
OECD report
The OECD ranking mentioned by the Minister certainly reports New Zealand as last of 33 countries for asset management accountability and professionalism.
In my view this ranking is not a fair reflection of either the people dedicated to the asset management profession in New Zealand, or where Āpōpō is helping to take our country.
The OECD survey also pre-dates the effect of Cabinet Office Circular 23(9) in raising the accountability stakes for central government and seems to overlook the long-standing infrastructure asset management accountability requirements on local government set out in the Local Government Act 2007 – as amended in 2014.
So what is Āpōpō – as the lead association for infrastructure asset management professionals in New Zealand – doing to address that appalling professionalism ranking? Quite a lot actually.
Āpōpō – Infrastructure Asset Management Professionals Incorporated
In 2023 we changed our trading name from IPWEA NZ to Āpōpō while our legal name changed to Infrastructure Asset Management Professionals Incorporated [my emphasis]. By including ‘Professionals’ in our name we made a statement about the practice of asset management – that it is a profession, characterised by the hallmarks of professionalism – expertise, specific knowledge, adherence to a high standard of conduct, a commitment to continuous learning, and a sense of altruistic service to others – all being traits readily displayed by asset managers at all levels throughout the country and the world.
Accreditation
In 2024 we launched our Āpōpō Professional Practice Accreditation programme, AMA (Asset Mangement Associate) and AMCP (Asset Management Chartered Professional) which involves, for AMCP, formal assessment of knowledge and experience in asset management as well as an annual commitment to 40 hours of CPD and the Āpōpō Code of Conduct.
From March 2025 we also offer international certifications in parallel with AMA and AMCP from the World Partners in Asset Management – CTAM, CPAM, CSAM, CEAM and CFAM, bringing global and standardised recognition of the competency of our accredited professionals.
Digital Badges and learning certificates
We have our highly respected and award winning Āpōpō learning to support asset management career development and CPD including 28 Digital Badges. Digital Badges are online micro credential courses taken on demand to meet knowledge acquisition needs at an affordable price and time commitment for introductory through to advanced asset management competency and adjacent skills development. We also have two levels of Āpōpō Certificates:
Āpōpō Essential Asset Management Certificate: 5 digital badges completed over a 5-month enrolment period
Āpōpō Advanced Asset Management Certificate: 12 digital badges completed over a 12-month enrolment period
Both Certificates include optional facilitated Teams sessions with subject matter experts each month, and also offer substantial savings on the cumulative price of individual digital badges.
Something else we are working on and coming soon is 10 NZQA Level 5 credits for the completion of a core set of asset management digital badges.
Pathways
Our Āpōpō asset management learning pathway is therefore comprehensive, all the way from industry training by Āpōpō through to a tight connection with the Bachelors Apprenticeship Degree from Otago Polytech and the University of Auckland’s Masters in Infrastructure Asset Management.
The Āpōpō Guide and Valuation and Depreciation Guidelines
And then there is the Āpōpō Guide, providing the authoritative next generation guidance for asset management practitioners in New Zealand by weaving together principles of te ao Māori with asset management practices drawn from the Global Forum for Maintenance and Asset Management’s Asset Management Landscape V3 – which in turn reflects the ISO55000 series of asset management standards.
And most recently we have added to our professional guidance the New Zealand Infrastructure Asset Valuation and Depreciation Guidelines 2025 online and hardcopy editions. Prepared jointly by Āpōpō and industry, we are grateful for the review input to these guidelines of the Office of the Auditor General, Audit New Zealand, and Waka Kotahi NZTA.
International connections
We are also developing our international professional connections with membership of GFMAM, IFME, and PIARC, being a Partner in WPiAM, and building collaborative working relationships with IAM in the UK, AMC in Australia and APWA in North America. These connections are all designed to ensure that we bring globally developed and recognised best practice into New Zealand and take our expertise to the world.
Our free digital badge GOV101 has recently been assessed and accepted by APWA for inclusion in their learning and development catalogue – proving the global relevance of New Zealand sourced learning material.
The Pacific
We have also recently been talking with both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, along with Taituarā and MFAT about our experience in delivering our capability development expertise and resources into the Pacific. We are looking to establish a Pacific Nations Asset Management Community of Interest later in 2025 to assist in raising the standard of asset management in the Pacific from including the BNR – Build Neglect Replace – strategy to a much more sustainable and efficient strategy based on sound asset management practice.
Branches, COP
Add to the mix our multiple webinars series, regional branch events and conference programme of forums and Congress, plus our hosting of the Central Government Asset Management Community of Practice – all providing networking and knowledge sharing opportunities accessible for all levels and roles involved in asset management.
Scholarships Awards
And finally our scholarships programme supports the asset management career development of committed individuals and our Excellence Awards celebrates the exemplar practice of asset management being carried out by those at the very top of their game – to expose what great looks like so everyone else can strive to emulate the standard of achievement showcased.
Values
In short, Āpōpō is living our values – Inspire – Connect – Enable – with Integrity. All of this in my view is professionalism personified.
2025 Beca Āpōpō Year of Asset Management
The second part of the OECD heading under which our asset management professionalism was grouped is accountability. The Cabinet Office Circular 23(9) is a reasonable start at being able to demonstrate accountability for the Crown’s asset portfolio – but the rigour of the Local Government Act 2007 as amended in 2014 remains absent from Central Government. Given Minister Bishop’s comments perhaps that will be addressed. The 2025 Beca Āpōpō Year of Asset Management initiative provides Āpōpō with a level of access to government officials and MPs across the political spectrum which we will be using to build relationships that influence recognition of the criticality of asset management in Central Government.
What’s Next?
So what is next for Āpōpō? In writing to Minister Bishop I outlined the next phase in our Professional Accreditation Programme. Phase one, now established, was our AMA and AMCP accreditations for individual asset management professionals. Phase Two is tentatively underway to develop and operate a robust and comprehensive organisational accreditation scheme. Minister Bishop wrote back expressing his interest in this and has requested Te Waihanga to consider how this can support improved asset management practice.
Alongside obtaining assurance over the results of a new Āpōpō technical asset management maturity assessment tool, the scheme will assess the competency, practices and performance of an applicant organisation for Āpōpō accreditation. The maturity assessment tool is currently in pilot testing with Auckland Council, Tararua District Council, and Palmerston North City Council.
Successful organisations will be able to promote themselves as being Āpōpō Accredited as a signal that they have shown themselves objectively to be worthy of the accolade. It will take time and participation to build credibility, but ultimately Āpōpō organisational accreditation will stand as a valued benchmark for organisations – Crown, Local Government and private sector – to be held to account against.
The two-phase approach is all about a push and pull affect for growing Āpōpō membership. Phase One – individual accreditation is the push – asset management professionals pushing for recognition of their competency and conduct. Phase Two – organisational accreditation – asset owners pulling to be resourced by accredited professionals in order to demonstrate their capability to look after the assets they are charged with. Phase Two is expected in the 2026 financial year.
Growing Āpōpō
It is an exciting time to be leading Āpōpō. While we have a lot going on, it is all focused on growing our membership so as to strengthen our organisation’s ability to effectively fulfil our purpose. We truly are striving to enhance the capability of infrastructure asset management professionals for Aotearoa New Zealand. Growing Āpōpō will help us to have a louder voice and to support our members in meeting their professional duty to realise better value from New Zealand’s infrastructure through their valuable work as asset managers.
Murray Pugh
Āpōpō CE
