Jo Townsend Appointed CEO of New Zealand Super Fund

The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, who manage the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the country’s NZ$70 billion ($42.03 billion) sovereign wealth fund, announced the appointment of Jo Townsend as CEO.

Jo Townsend

“We are excited to have Jo join the Guardians’ team. She is a highly experienced CEO with a 30-year career in the Australian investment sector,” said Guardians Board Chair John Williamson in a statement. “Jo is a proven people leader with a track record of developing high-performing teams, attracting talent and building strong stakeholder relationships.”

Townsend will succeed Matt Whineray, who was CEO of the Guardians from 2018 through December 2023, and will replace acting CEO Paula Steed upon her appointment, effective in April.

For more stories like this, sign up for the CIO Alert daily newsletter. 

“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the Guardians,” Townsend said in a statement. “The NZ Super Fund is known and respected globally as a high-performing institutional investor. The Guardians’ purpose—sustainable investment delivering strong returns for all New Zealanders—sums up the importance of the Fund to the country.”

Prior to her appointment at NZ Super, Townsend was CEO of Funds SA, a superannuation fund for the Australian state of South Australia, from 2016 to 2023. She held numerous positions in the investments industry in Australia for the past 30 years, including at REST Industry Super, NGS Super, Retirements Benefit Fund, Value Capital Management and Rothchild Asset Management, according to the press release.

Townsend earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and finance from the University of Technology Sydney. She is an independent member of the investment advisory committee of the Australian Olympic Foundation.