Iwi-owned commercial entities have outperformed some of New Zealand's largest listed companies

ANZ's annual Te Tirohanga Whanui report shows the entities emerged from the economic downturn in good shape - faring better on a return on assets basis.

Waikato-Tainui is among the strong performers, having a balance sheet of 1.9 billion dollars.

Maori Development Minister Tama Potaka says there are some reasons behind the uplift.

He says many iwi and Maori businesses are land and people based, they have low debt levels and are often generational players.