Napier – AM Governance, Leadership and Decision Making

Join us in Napier for our upcoming NZ Technical Session: AM Governance, Leadership and Decision Making. This session will bring together asset management practitioners from local government, utilities and ports to share practical insights into how governance, leadership and effective decision-making support stronger asset management outcomes.

Presentations

Investing in the Right Asset at the Right Time: Why Good Plans Don’t Always Become Good Decisions

Infrastructure asset management has long promoted the principle of investing in the right asset at the right time. Organisations invest heavily in asset information, lifecycle modelling, risk assessment, and long-term planning to support evidence-based decision-making. Yet despite these advances, infrastructure investment decisions frequently diverge from what asset management best practice would recommend.

Drawing on research undertaken as part of a recently completed Master’s at the University of Auckland, this presentation explores why the gap between planning and delivery persists. Through interviews with infrastructure leaders and practitioners across New Zealand, the research examined how investment recommendations are reshaped as they move through governance, funding, political, and organisational decision-making processes.

The findings suggest that investment outcomes are rarely determined by technical evidence alone. Financial constraints, governance arrangements, accountability structures, risk appetite, organisational capability, political influences, and community expectations all interact to influence when, why, and whether investments proceed. The research introduces a practical decision-making framework that helps explain where lifecycle-based recommendations are most commonly deferred, reprioritised, or overridden.

For asset managers, executives, and elected members, the implications are significant. Improving infrastructure outcomes requires more than better data and sharper business cases. It requires decision-making systems that create visibility of trade-offs, strengthen accountability, and maintain alignment between asset management intent and investment outcomes.

The presentation introduces a practical framework for understanding these influences and discusses actions organisations can take to improve transparency, accountability, and alignment between long-term asset value and investment outcomes.

Darren de Klerk is Deputy GM and Director Infrastructure Delivery at Hastings District Council, where he leads the delivery of major transport, waters, resilience, and community infrastructure programmes. With more than two decades of experience across local government, consulting, and infrastructure delivery, Darren specialises in programme leadership, governance, asset management, procurement, and capital investment decision-making. Always keen to learn and challenge himself. Darren recently completed a Master of Engineering at the University of Auckland, researching how public asset-intensive organisations can improve infrastructure investment outcomes through better decision-making. His thesis, Investing in the Right Asset at the Right Time, explores why investment decisions often diverge from lifecycle-based asset management principles and identifies practical ways to improve transparency, accountability, and long-term value. Passionate about bridging the gap between strategy and delivery, Darren is a strong advocate for evidence-based infrastructure planning, continuous improvement, and building organisational capability to achieve better outcomes for communities. Outside of his council role, Darren serves on the Board of Āpōpō and is committed to advancing infrastructure asset management practice across New Zealand and the wider public sector.

ISO 55001:2024 Recertification
Unison
Insights from Unison’s recertification to ISO 55001:2024, with discussion also expected to touch on its approach to decision-making.

Leadership and Governance
Port of Napier
Exploring the role of leadership and governance in supporting effective asset management.

We hope you can join us for an informative afternoon of practical discussion, shared experience and networking with New Zealand’s asset management community.