NZX names Hishaam Mirza CEO as board eyes growth push
NZX named Hishaam Mirza as its new chief executive, tapping a 25-year investment veteran to lead the local bourse’s push for scale and global relevance.
Source: NZX · August 19, 2026 at 9:00 AM · AI-assisted report
Single-source
NEW ZEALAND, 19 AUGUST 2026 —
Listen to this article
DomainFork Audio · read aloud
NZX named Hishaam Mirza as its new chief executive, tapping a 25-year investment veteran to lead the local bourse’s push for scale and global relevance.
Market Impact
The board completed a global search and selected Mirza over other candidates, NZX chair John McMahon said in a statement Wednesday. Mirza will start on 14 September, while acting CEO Graham Law remains in place until then.
Mirza joins from the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, where he spent 14 years and most recently ran direct investments overseeing about NZ$8 billion in real assets, healthcare, technology and financial services. He has also worked at Lazard, EDF Energy, BP and IBM, and holds first-class honours in Commerce from the University of Melbourne.
McMahon said the board wanted a strategic leader with deep capital markets experience to execute NZX’s growth plan.
“Hishaam is a proven strategic leader,” McMahon said. “The Board is delighted with Hishaam’s appointment, and we look forward to working with him in delivering NZX’s growth strategy to elevate the performance of NZX and New Zealand’s capital markets.”
Mirza said NZX’s role at the centre of New Zealand’s economy gave him a platform to expand scale, liquidity and global relevance.
“It is a privilege to lead NZX and an opportunity to contribute to an institution that plays a critical role in New Zealand’s capital markets infrastructure,” he said. “The opportunity now is to build greater scale, liquidity and global relevance.”
He added that his priorities include keeping the exchange and its Smart and NZX Wealth Technologies units “strong partners” for businesses, investors and government, while supporting long-term wealth building for New Zealanders.
Mirza is also a director of Datacom Group and chair of Parnell District School.
The appointment follows a period of interim leadership by Law since early May, a transition the board acknowledged.
“The Board sincerely thanks Graham for his steady hand in leading the business,” McMahon said.
Media contact: Simon Beattie, +64 21 702 694
Related: NZX · Hishaam Mirza · New Zealand