NZX Board Appoints Mark Peterson As CEO

The NZX Board has today announced the appointment of Mark Peterson as its new CEO, effective immediately.

Mark has held the role of Acting CEO since January 2017. He has been permanently appointed to the position following a comprehensive global search undertaken by the Board, through which it determined that Mark was the ideal candidate to lead the business.

Announcing the appointment, NZX Chairman James Miller says Mark has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial services sector covering capital markets, share broking, private wealth, and institutional and retail banking. He will bring to the CEO role a continued focus on strengthening NZX’s relationships with its key stakeholders, while strategically growing the business to ensure it is best placed to compete domestically and internationally.

“Mark has shown himself to be a highly capable leader during his time at NZX and more recently as Acting CEO. In addition to his extensive markets experience, Mark has been instrumental in transforming staff engagement, with his clear communication skills and collaborative leadership style. He has also led the successful development of NZX’s Wealth Technologies business and has a proven track record of sound commercial judgement.”

“The Board is extremely pleased to make this appointment and we look forward to working alongside Mark and the wider NZX team.”

NZX CEO Mark Peterson commented: “It is a privilege to lead NZX, an organisation which plays a pivotal role in supporting New Zealand’s capital markets. I welcome this opportunity to keep growing our markets, and I am committed to building a very collaborative team at the centre of this network, which engages, seeks feedback, and in turn delivers greater value for our customers and shareholders.”

The Board was committed to finding the best possible candidate to lead NZX. To ensure the successful candidate had the right experience and skills to grow NZX, the Board commissioned governance services firm Propero Consulting to survey a wide sample of its stakeholders including shareholders, staff and market participants to ensure a broad perspective on the characteristics and values needed for this role. Korn Ferry International then conducted a global search to identify candidates that were appropriately skilled.

Feedback from the survey consistently emphasised that the most important characteristics included having a passion for financial markets, a reputation for creating strong stakeholder relationships, extensive markets knowledge, and a sound understanding of technology.

The ability to create wealth, seasoned judgement, financial acumen, and generate a simplified strategic vision for NZX to ensure value creation for shareholders in the future were also key characteristics. Mark has demonstrated these skills.

Mark’s biographical details and key details of his employment agreement and are provided below.

Mark Peterson biography 

Mark joined NZX in May 2015 as Head of Markets. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial services sector covering capital markets, share broking, private wealth, and institutional and retail banking. Prior to joining NZX, Mark was the Managing Director of ANZ Securities. He has held executive roles with FNZC (formally First NZ Capital) and The National Bank of NZ, and was the Chief Operating Officer at the ANZ Institutional Bank. He is a former Chairman of the NZ Securities Industry Association.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University of Wellington, has completed executive training at Mt Eliza business school, and has been an accredited NZX Advisor and Authorised Financial Adviser.

Mark is based in Wellington with his wife Andrea and teenage daughter Georgie. He also has a son Matthew who is studying at the University of Otago.