He has been head of markets at NZX since January 2014.

Before joining NZX, Jenkins was general manager of trading among farmers at Fonterra.

Since joining NZX, he has driven the design and regulatory approval of the NXT market, as well as the introduction of equity derivatives and options, butter futures, and the launch of five new Smartshares exchange-traded funds.

NZX chief executive Tim Bennett said: “Aaron’s diverse background across financial services and technology makes him the ideal candidate for this role. In addition, his existing knowledge of the NZX and SuperLife businesses means he will be able to make a quick start in the role. Aaron’s immediate focus will be on supporting the continued growth of SuperLife’s KiwiSaver and employer superannuation activities, together with SuperLife founders Michael Chamberlain and Owen Nash, as well as creating a comprehensive set of Smartshares ETFs and driving the uptake of these products.”

Mark Peterson will take the head of markets role.

Peterson has around 25 years’ experience in financial services covering the exchange traded capital markets, private wealth, institutional and retail banking and insurance. Most recently, he was the managing principal of ANZ Securities, and has previously held roles with First NZ Capital and National Bank of NZ.

The appointments take effect on June 2.