“Jo is a proven people leader with a track record of developing high-performing teams, attracting talent and building strong stakeholder relationships.”
Townsend will take over from acting CEO Paula Steed in April.
Former chief executive Matt Whineray stepped down in December, after 15 years with the organisation.
Townsend is the first externally-appointed CEO since Adrian Orr, current Reserve Bank of NZ Governor, in 2007.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the Guardians,” Townsend said.
“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.”
A recovery in global sharemarkets helped the Super Fund bounce back to positive growth in 2023 with a 16.03 per cent return for the year, taking its worth to almost $70 billion. That was a turnaround from 2022′s negative 9.26 per cent return.
In dollar terms, it added $8.65b to its value last calendar year, off $2.086b in government contributions - although it paid $190m back to the Crown in income tax.
Since it began investing in September 2003, the state-owned investing fund has returned 9.79 per cent on average annually, and over the past decade has made 10.11 per cent on average.
In its lifetime it’s received $25.75b from the Government in contributions and paid $9.656b in tax.
