Which universities produce the highest-paid CEOs? Do IoD credentials translate to shareholder returns? Does CEO tenure predict stock performance? We analyse 106 CEO compensation packages across every dimension the data allows.
The Institute of Directors NZ offers three tiers of designation: Member (MInstD), Chartered Member (CMInstD), and Chartered Fellow (CFInstD). Does holding one correlate with higher pay — or better results?
| Designation | Level | CEOs | Median Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMInstD | Chartered Member | 3 |
Of 106 NZX CEOs with compensation data, 5 are women (5%) and 100 are men. 1 have undisclosed gender.
| Company | CEO | Sector | Total Pay | ROE | 1Y TSR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AIA AIA |
Does a longer-serving CEO produce better shareholder outcomes? We analyse 100 CEOs with tenure data across four cohorts, overlaying pay, ROE, and total shareholder return.
| Tenure | CEOs | Median Pay | Avg Pay | Avg 1Y TSR | Avg ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-2 years | 15 | $811K | $984K | -0.2% | -8.9% |
| 3-5 years | 31 | $625K | $1.1M | -1.0% | 1.3% |
| 6-10 years | 34 | $1.4M |
Do elite credentials — Ivy League or Oxbridge degrees, or IoD Chartered Fellow status — translate to superior shareholder outcomes? Or do they primarily translate to higher pay?
Despite commanding a 30% pay premium, CEOs with elite credentials do not deliver superior shareholder returns in this dataset (avg 1Y TSR: 6.1% vs 20.2% for non-elite). This echoes the broader "credentials paradox" observed in NZX board data: the most credentialed boards tend to underperform the least credentialed. Boards and shareholders may want to consider whether they are paying for credentials or for results.
Note: Correlation does not imply causation. CEO performance depends on many factors including market conditions, sector dynamics, board support, and strategic context. Small sample sizes limit statistical significance.
CEOs earning above the median ($1.0M) while their company reported negative ROE.
Negative returns may reflect market conditions, sector trends, or strategic investments. Compensation may reflect multi-year contracts or non-financial KPIs.
| Company | CEO | Tenure | Total Pay | ROE | 1Y TSR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WHS WHS | Nick Grayston | 11y | $4.22M | -0.8% | -20.5% |
MEL MEL | Mike Roan |
All 106 CEOs ranked by total compensation, with every dimension surfaced.
| # | Company | CEO | Pay | 1Y TSR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FSF FSF | Theo Spierings | $8.3M |
Scope: 106 NZX-listed companies with disclosed CEO compensation. Data sourced from annual reports filed with the NZX as at 31 March 2026.
University data: Extracted from director biographies via AI (Claude Haiku). Normalised to canonical names via NZXplorer's university normalization engine (70+ mappings). Tier classification: "Elite International" (Ivy League, Oxbridge, INSEAD, LBS), "NZ Major" (8 NZ universities), "Australian Go8" (Group of Eight), "Other". Coverage: 84 of 106 CEOs (79%).
IoD designations: Classified from biographies using regex pattern matching. Three tiers: Member (MInstD), Chartered Member (CMInstD), Chartered Fellow (CFInstD). Coverage: 11 CEOs (10%).
Gender: Determined from annual reports and public biographical information. Coverage: 105 of 106 (99%).
CEO tenure: Calculated from earliest appearance in NZX management team disclosures. Data coverage begins ~2010 for most companies. 100 CEOs with tenure data (94%).
Total shareholder return (TSR): Trailing 1-year and 3-year returns including dividends and price appreciation.
Limitations: University and IoD data depends on biography disclosure quality. Compensation normalisation handles $000s variants but automated extraction may occasionally miscategorise components. Small cohort sizes limit statistical significance for some comparisons. Correlation does not imply causation.
Published 31 March 2026 by NZXplorer. For informational purposes only. Not investment or financial advice. If you believe any data is incorrect, contact hello@nzxplorer.co.nz.
Data sourced from NZX annual reports, director biographies, and executive compensation disclosures. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. Scores are calculated using disclosed methodology and are analytical tools, not investment ratings or recommendations. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz.
For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.
| 0% |
| Other International | 23 | $1.0M | $1.4M | 0% |
| Australian Group of Eight | 5 | $224K | $3.1M | -78% |
| No university disclosed | 22 | $858K | $1.4M | -14% |
"Elite International" includes Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD. "NZ Major" includes UoA, Massey, Canterbury, Otago, Victoria, Waikato, AUT, Lincoln. "Australian Group of Eight" includes Melbourne, Sydney, ANU, Queensland, Monash, UNSW, UWA, Adelaide — Australia's eight leading research universities. Some CEOs appear in multiple tiers if they attended universities in different tiers.
| University | CEOs | Median Pay | Highest | Companies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 London Business School | 2 | $4.3M | $6.1M | FCG, FWL |
 INSEAD | 4 | $1.8M | $6.1M | FCG, AFI, VNT, AIA |
 Deakin University | 2 | $1.6M | $2.7M | DOW, AOF |
 Massey University | 8 | $1.3M | $3.9M | CVT, PGW, MCY, AIA, PCT, TAH, PHL, VSL |
 University of Waikato | 4 | $1.3M | $2.2M | FRW, MOV, GNE, TGG |
 University of Canterbury | 7 | $1.2M | $2.8M | SML, STU, GEN, ALF, SKT, CEN, PFI |
 Imperial College London | 2 | $1.2M | $1.2M | IKE, SPG |
 University of Auckland | 18 | $1.1M | $5.3M | SMI, PEB, MEE, NPH, MPG, SPK, ANZ, GMT, VGL, TRA, DGL, GXH, HGH, 2CC, ARG, FPH, MEL, RBD |
 Wharton School (UPenn) | 2 | $1.1M | $1.2M | NZM, VCT |
 Victoria University of Wellington | 7 | $1.0M | $3.9M | SUM, NZX, MCY, MFB, THL, BPG, VSL |
 Cranfield University | 2 | $883K | $1.1M | NZK, FBU |
 University of Otago | 10 | $677K | $2.8M | ERD, RAD, AFT, TWR, LIC, SKL, SAN, CHI, BLT, APL |
 Harvard University | 2 | $656K | $656K | ALF, ALF |
| $1.9M |
| MInstD | Member | 8 | $957K |
| 15 |
| $1.1M |
| +13% |
| PhD / Doctorate | 4 | $1.1M | +13% |
| CA / FCA | 15 | $1.0M | +4% |
| AICD | 3 | $1.0M | 0% |
| LLB / Law | 8 | $948K | -5% |
| NZ Honours | 2 | $930K | -7% |
Qualifications extracted from director biographies. A CEO may hold multiple qualifications and appear in more than one row. "vs Overall" compares against the overall median of $1.0M. CA = Chartered Accountant, FCA = Fellow CA, GAICD/FAICD = Graduate/Fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors, ONZM/CNZM = Officer/Companion of NZ Order of Merit.
| Carrie Hurihanganui |
| Industrials |
| $2.14M |
| 4.0% |
| +5.6% |
SKT SKT | Sophie Moloney | Communication Services | $1.65M | 4.6% | +4.4% |
SPK SPK | Jolie Hodson | Communication Services | $1.30M | 17.1% | -13.5% |
GXH GXH | Rachael Newfield | Healthcare | $895K | — | +51.9% |
RYM RYM | Naomi James | Healthcare | $525K | -10.3% | -16.9% |
Gender determined from annual reports and public biographical information. Not all CEOs have disclosed gender in available data sources.
| $2.0M |
| +59.9% |
| -9.3% |
| 10+ years | 28 | $1.1M | $2.0M | +1.2% | 3.0% |
Tenure calculated from the earliest year the CEO appears in annual report disclosures. Some CEOs may have started before our data coverage begins (2010).
| # | Company | CEO | Tenure | Total Pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BGP BGP | Rod Duke | 38 yrs | $1.77M |
| 2 | AFT AFT | Dr Hartley Atkinson | 29 yrs | $1.07M |
| 3 | MFT MFT | Don Braid | 26 yrs | $2.90M |
| 4 | APL APL | Mark Francis | 25 yrs | $475K |
| 5 | SEK SEK | Michael Franks | 20 yrs | $1.00M |
| 6 | BFG BFG | Josef Roberts | 19 yrs | $770K |
| 7 | SKO SKO | Darrin Grafton | 19 yrs | $1.00M |
| 8 | SCL SCL | Andy Borland | 19 yrs | $650K |
| 9 | VCT VCT | Simon Mackenzie | 18 yrs | $1.00M |
| 10 | THL THL | Grant Webster | 18 yrs | $1.00M |
| 7y |
| $2.47M |
| -5.1% |
| -1.7% |
FWL FWL | Antony Mark Turnbull | 12y | $2.42M | -1.3% | -7.4% |
VGL VGL | Stuart Dickinson | 4y | $1.72M | -0.4% | -51.9% |
MHJ MHJ | Daniel Bracken | 8y | $1.45M | -0.3% | +7.1% |
STU STU | Mark Malpass | 8y | $1.25M | -13.4% | -40.8% |
RAK RAK | Sinan Altug | — | $1.13M | -3.8% | +94.2% |
PEB PEB | Dr Peter Meintjes | 4y | $1.13M | -114.8% | +60.4% |
KMD KMD | Brentley Scrimshaw | — | $1.00M | -7.2% | -54.1% |
CEOs delivering ROE above 15% while earning below the median ($1.0M).
| Company | CEO | Tenure | Total Pay | ROE | 1Y TSR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TAH TAH | Tony Wai | 5y | $456K | 62.5% | +13.7% |
HLG HLG | Christopher James Kinraid | — | $945K | 35.3% | +14.2% |
BRW BRW | Greg Smith | 5y | $572K | 26.1% | +29.5% |
PHL PHL | Stuart Bilbrough | 4y | $130K | 17.4% | -9.6% |
PYS PYS | Asantha Wijeyeratne | 11y | $451K | 16.3% | +41.4% |
2CC 2CC | David (Yusuke) Sena | 2y | $392K | 15.7% | -6.3% |
| 2 | ATM ATM | David Bortolussi | $8.3M | +32.9% |
| 3 | EBO EBO | John Cullity | $6.4M | -43.7% |
| 4 | FCG FCG | Miles Hurrell | $6.1M | +29.3% |
| 5 | ANZ ANZ | Shayne Elliott | $5.3M | +31.7% |
| 6 | FPH FPH | Lewis Gradon | $5.1M | +1.9% |
| 7 | WHS WHS | Nick Grayston | $4.2M | -20.5% |
| 8 | MCY MCY | Rhys Jones | $3.9M | +3.2% |
| 9 | MFT MFT | Don Braid | $2.9M | -12.2% |
| 10 | TWR TWR | Blair Turnbull | $2.8M | +11.1% |
| 11 | CEN CEN | Mike Fuge | $2.8M | +4.6% |
| 12 | TRA TRA | Todd Hunter | $2.8M | +32.3% |
| 13 | AIR AIR | Greg Foran | $2.8M | -23.4% |
| 14 | DOW DOW | Peter Tompkins | $2.7M | +0.0% |
| 15 | SKC SKC | Jason Walbridge | $2.6M | -31.7% |
| 16 | MEL MEL | Mike Roan | $2.5M | -1.7% |
| 17 | FWL FWL | Antony Mark Turnbull | $2.4M | -7.4% |
| 18 | PCT PCT | Scott Pritchard | $2.3M | -15.0% |
| 19 | GNE GNE | Malcolm Johns | $2.2M | -5.2% |
| 20 | AIA AIA | Carrie Hurihanganui | $2.1M | +5.6% |
| 21 | CNU CNU | Mark Aue | $2.0M | +25.2% |
| 22 | WIN WIN | Chris Meehan | $2.0M | -5.6% |
| 23 | POT POT | Leonard Sampson | $1.9M | +12.3% |
| 24 | BGP BGP | Rod Duke | $1.8M | -22.0% |
| 25 | GTK GTK | Gary Miles | $1.7M | -39.7% |
| 26 | VGL VGL | Stuart Dickinson | $1.7M | -51.9% |
| 27 | SKT SKT | Sophie Moloney | $1.6M | +4.4% |
| 28 | FRW FRW | Mark Troughear | $1.6M | +12.2% |
| 29 | SUM SUM | Scott Scoullar | $1.5M | -22.9% |
| 30 | KPG KPG | Clive Mackenzie | $1.5M | -8.9% |
| 31 | MHJ MHJ | Daniel Bracken | $1.4M | +7.1% |
| 32 | AFI AFI | Mark Freeman | $1.4M | +14.3% |
| 33 | PGW PGW | Stephen Guerin | $1.4M | -4.5% |
| 34 | GMT GMT | James Spence | $1.4M | -6.4% |
| 35 | SPK SPK | Jolie Hodson | $1.3M | -13.5% |
| 36 | VSL VSL | Rhys Jones | $1.3M | -7.8% |
| 37 | STU STU | Mark Malpass | $1.2M | -40.8% |
| 38 | PFI PFI | Simon Woodhams | $1.2M | -4.8% |
| 39 | IKE IKE | Glenn Milnes | $1.2M | -10.3% |
| 40 | SPG SPG | Philip Littlewood | $1.2M | -13.6% |
| 41 | NZM NZM | Michael Boggs | $1.2M | -3.5% |
| 42 | DGL DGL | Steven Carden | $1.2M | -5.7% |
| 43 | OCA OCA | Brent Pattison | $1.2M | +1.4% |
| 44 | RAK RAK | Sinan Altug | $1.1M | +94.2% |
| 45 | SCT SCT | Mike Christman | $1.1M | +18.5% |
| 46 | PEB PEB | Dr Peter Meintjes | $1.1M | +60.4% |
| 47 | FBU FBU | Andrew Reding | $1.1M | -2.0% |
| 48 | RBD RBD | Arif Khan | $1.1M | +42.3% |
| 49 | AFT AFT | Dr Hartley Atkinson | $1.1M | +23.5% |
| 50 | SAN SAN | David Mair | $1.1M | +22.4% |
| 51 | NZX NZX | Mark Peterson | $1.0M | -14.1% |
| 52 | KMD KMD | Brentley Scrimshaw | $1.0M | -54.1% |
| 53 | ARG ARG | Peter Mence | $1.0M | -0.4% |
| 54 | VCT VCT | Simon Mackenzie | $1.0M | +10.6% |
| 55 | WBC WBC | Anthony Miller | $1.0M | +33.9% |
| 56 | SKO SKO | Darrin Grafton | $1.0M | -42.6% |
| 57 | VNT VNT | Dean Banks | $1.0M | +10.3% |
| 58 | SEK SEK | Michael Franks | $1.0M | +17.3% |
| 59 | THL THL | Grant Webster | $1.0M | +4.9% |
| 60 | TGG TGG | Gareth Edgecombe | $1.0M | +7.4% |
| 61 | HLG HLG | Christopher James Kinraid | $945K | +14.2% |
| 62 | NPH NPH | Todd Dawson | $913K | +2.8% |
| 63 | GXH GXH | Rachael Newfield | $895K | +51.9% |
| 64 | SKL SKL | David Mair | $863K | +11.8% |
| 65 | HGH HGH | Andrew Dixson | $811K | +50.8% |
| 66 | BPG BPG | Nick Lissette | $773K | -35.0% |
| 67 | BFG BFG | Josef Roberts | $770K | -10.4% |
| 68 | CMO CMO | J O Hutchinson | $754K | +11.3% |
| 69 | ERD ERD | Mark Heine | $700K | -34.4% |
| 70 | NZK NZK | Carl Carrington | $671K | -9.3% |
| 71 | CVT CVT | Brett Hewlett | $660K | +41.5% |
| 72 | ALF ALF | Richard Milsom | $656K | -10.3% |
| 73 | LIC LIC | David Chin | $653K | +10.5% |
| 74 | SCL SCL | Andy Borland | $650K | +27.9% |
| 75 | MOV MOV | Paul Millward | $634K | +0.0% |
| 76 | MFB MFB | Mark Winter | $625K | -8.9% |
| 77 | SVR SVR | Lucien Law | $610K | +11.1% |
| 78 | RAD RAD | Andrew Peskett | $573K | -2.6% |
| 79 | BRW BRW | Greg Smith | $572K | +29.5% |
| 80 | CHI CHI | Rob Buchanan | $570K | +40.0% |
| 81 | MCK MCK | Stuart Harrison | $563K | +15.4% |
| 82 | SML SML | Timothy Carter | $556K | -31.3% |
| 83 | AGL AGL | Jason Cherrington | $550K | -44.2% |
| 84 | SPN SPN | Nigel Gear | $550K | +16.9% |
| 85 | RYM RYM | Naomi James | $525K | -16.9% |
| 86 | SDL SDL | Patrick Brand | $514K | -8.3% |
| 87 | AOF AOF | Greg Balla | $500K | -21.5% |
| 88 | CDI CDI | Jason Adams | $482K | -14.8% |
| 89 | APL APL | Mark Francis | $475K | -10.0% |
| 90 | TAH TAH | Tony Wai | $456K | +13.7% |
| 91 | PYS PYS | Asantha Wijeyeratne | $451K | +41.4% |
| 92 | TWL TWL | Albertus Johannes Smith | $437K | -4.6% |
| 93 | ARB ARB | Justin Birch | $425K | -17.4% |
| 94 | SMI SMI | Damian Spring | $420K | +29.8% |
| 95 | GEN GEN | Brent Douglas King | $417K | -6.7% |
| 96 | ENS ENS | Ronald Baskind | $411K | -14.0% |
| 97 | 2CC 2CC | David (Yusuke) Sena | $392K | -6.3% |
| 98 | BLT BLT | Brian Watson | $339K | -26.3% |
| 99 | CCC CCC | Aiden John Keegan | $328K | -30.4% |
| 100 | RTO RTO | Mark Thornton | $292K | +13.0% |
| 101 | TRU TRU | Martin Dillon | $224K | -5.6% |
| 102 | MPG MPG | Simon Mander | $222K | +2010.0% |
| 103 | RUA RUA | Paul Naske | $221K | -24.4% |
| 104 | MEE MEE | Michael Kerr | $219K | -37.5% |
| 105 | PHL PHL | Stuart Bilbrough | $130K | -9.6% |
| 106 | CRP CRP | Colin Randall | $117K | -40.5% |
