New Zealand's stock market operator (NZX) is beefing up its investment banking expertise at a board level with former Jarden head of investment banking Rob Hamilton set to take up the chair in April.
Hamilton will be joined at the NZX board by Rachel Walsh, who's currently IT service provider Datacom's chief financial officer and previously worked in mergers and acquisitions for Graeme Hart's Rank Group.
The NZX's current chair, James Miller, will retire at next year's annual meeting, having signalled his exit after what will be seven years in the chair.
The NZX's boardroom is in for a wider shakeup with Nigel Babbage and Richard Bodman retiring in November and December, respectively.
“Rob and Rachel are proven performers. They are outstanding leaders whose strong understanding of markets, listed company requirements, financial services and increasing business performance will be of great value to NZX,” Miller said in a statement.
“Nigel and Richard leave NZX in good heart and financial position."
He said they have been part of a board that has moved the organisation from being a narrow-based exchange operator into a scaled diversified financial institution, with the expansion of Smartshares and the growth of Wealth Technologies.
The NZX has enjoyed rapid growth in the volume of trading with the advent of platforms such as Sharesies, but has struggled to attract new initial public offerings in recent years.
