Spark announces appointment of Chief Financial Officer

MARKET RELEASE – 26 NOVEMBER 2024

Spark announces appointment of Chief Financial Officer

Spark today announced the appointment of Stewart Taylor as Chief Financial Officer, effective 9 December 2024.

Stewart has over 25 years’ experience across a range of finance and executive roles in the financial services sector.

He was most recently Chief Financial Officer at Partners Life, where he worked with private equity firm Blackstone on the sale and transition of ownership of the business to Dai-ichi Life Holdings. This followed a substantial 15-year career at ANZ New Zealand, including as Chief Financial Officer for over four years and Chief Executive Officer of ANZ Investments, along with a series of other senior finance roles.

Spark CEO Jolie Hodson said, “I’m delighted to appoint someone of Stewart’s calibre, with strong financial and capital markets experience. Stewart brings with him a proven track record of delivering on strategy and business results in large, complex businesses. He is a results-oriented people leader, and we look forward to him joining our leadership team.”

Stewart is a Chartered Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Durham, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Stewart will also be appointed as a director of Spark Finance Limited from 20 December 2024.

As previously announced, outgoing Finance Director Stefan Knight will depart the business on 20 December 2024.

Once the changes are effective the Spark Leadership Squad will include:
• Jolie Hodson, CEO
• Stewart Taylor, Chief Financial Officer
• Mark Beder, Customer Director Enterprise and Government
• Greg Clark, SME and Consumer Director
• Matt Bain, Marketing Director
• Renee Mateparae, Network and Operations Director
• Heather Polglase, People and Culture Director
• Melissa Anastasiou, General Counsel
• Leela Ashford, Corporate Relations and Sustainability Director
• John Wesley-Smith, Strategy and Regulatory Director

Authorised by:

Stefan Knight
Finance Director


For more information contact:

For media queries please contact:
Althea Lovell
Corporate Relations Lead Partner
(64) 21 222 2992
[email protected]

For investor queries please contact:
Stefan Knight
Finance Director
(64) 27 252 9438
[email protected]

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Announcement PDF