Heartland gets new CEO

Heartland Group has appointed Andrew Dixson as its chief executive replacing Jeff Greenslade who earlier this year indicated to the board his intention to step down from his role as CEO of Heartland by the end of this calendar year.

Dixson is currently group chief financial officer and has been with Heartland since 2010. During that he has been involved in all key parts of Heartland’s evolution, including the initial merger in 2011, New Zealand bank registration in 2012 and Heartland’s listing on the NZX and ASX. He has also played a critical role in the execution of several major strategic acquisitions, including the acquisition of the Reverse Mortgage businesses in 2014, StockCo Australia in 2022 and Challenger Bank Limited (Challenger Bank) in 2024.

Dixson’s appointment enables a thorough handover to be completed sooner, allowing Greenslade to retire earlier, the company says in an NZX announcement.

Greenslade will retire from his role and all Heartland directorships on September 30. Dixson will succeed Greenslade as CEO of Heartland and be appointed a non-independent non-executive director of Heartland Bank Limited from October 1.

Heartland chairman Greg Tomlinson, said Dixson’s appointment reflects the evolution of the business since Heartland Bank’s acquisition of Challenger Bank – subsequently rebranded to Heartland Bank Australia.

“The board is confident in Andrew’s ability to lead Heartland in the next stage of its journey. This next stage will be focused on capital allocation and an improved return on equity, of which Andrew has proven his leadership in shaping Heartland’s funding strategy in both countries, and through his involvement in complex structured finance transactions and a number of successful material capital raises.”

Dixson’s focus as CEO will be on group strategy, investor relations, corporate finance, capital allocation, and strategic and risk management oversight of each bank. The group chief financial officer role will not be replaced.

This reflects a significant evolution of Heartland’s role as the parent company of two banks. Heartland’s operations as parent company are now focused on those matters described above, and a number of responsibilities have moved from Heartland to the respective banks. As such, the deputy group CEO role has been disestablished and Chris Flood will finish with Heartland on October 31.