On 6 November 2026, one of the most consequential careers in Australian finance comes to a close. Shemara Wikramanayake will retire as managing director and chief executive of Macquarie Group and step down from the boards of Macquarie Group and Macquarie Bank. The next day, Greg Ward, head of Banking and Financial Services and a Macquarie veteran of 30 years, takes over.

She leaves on a high. Macquarie’s 2026 financial year produced the second-highest profit in its history, and its 57th consecutive year of profitability.

A Macquarie lifer

Wikramanayake joined Macquarie in 1987, starting in what is now Macquarie Capital in Sydney. Over the following two decades she worked across the group’s businesses before becoming head of Macquarie Asset Management in 2008. She led that division for about a decade as it grew into one of the world’s largest infrastructure investors.

In December 2018 she succeeded Nicholas Moore as chief executive, becoming one of the very few women to lead a major global financial institution. Macquarie chair Glenn Stevens, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank, summed up her tenure when announcing her retirement in July: “Over her last eight years as CEO, and for almost four decades with the company, Shemara has steered Macquarie through expansion into new markets, the dislocation of the COVID pandemic, and significantly enhanced recognition of our brand and the value we bring to global clients and communities.”

The final scorecard

Macquarie’s result for the year to 31 March 2026, announced on 8 May, showed:

  • net profit after tax of $4.847 billion, up 30% on the prior year
  • a record second-half profit of $3.192 billion
  • return on equity of 14%, up from 11.2%
  • higher contributions from all four operating groups: Banking and Financial Services, Commodities and Global Markets, Macquarie Asset Management and Macquarie Capital
  • international income accounting for 68% of the total.

That last figure says a lot about the Macquarie she built. The “millionaires’ factory” of Australian folklore now earns most of its income offshore, from infrastructure and energy assets, commodities trading and global asset management. The FY26 result also reflected strategic pruning: Macquarie Asset Management completed the sale of its North American and European public investments business during the year.

Her own explanation of the result was characteristically understated: “Each of our businesses used its specialist expertise in navigating the current environment, identifying opportunities that support long-term growth and delivering positive outcomes for our clients and communities.”

An orderly handover

The succession has been handled in classic Macquarie style: internal, well signposted and unhurried. Greg Ward joined Macquarie in 1996, the year it listed. He served as global chief financial officer for 14 years and then as deputy managing director before taking over Banking and Financial Services in 2013. Under him, the division has grown into a significant challenger in Australian home lending, business banking and wealth, and it contributed $1.61 billion in FY26.

Wikramanayake was effusive about her successor. “We have worked together for 30 years, and his track record, leadership and integrity make him an excellent candidate to be Macquarie’s next CEO,” she said in July. Ward, for his part, said she “leaves Macquarie incredibly well positioned, with each of our businesses performing strongly.”

The legacy

Wikramanayake’s Macquarie is bigger, more global and more diversified than the one she inherited. It is also more exposed to the energy transition, through its infrastructure and green investment businesses, and to the volatility of global commodity markets. The task for Ward is to keep the group’s entrepreneurial culture alive while managing the risks of a business that now spans continents and asset classes.

In her own words, the role’s “great privilege” was “empowering Macquarie’s talented team to perpetuate our unique culture of identifying opportunities and taking accountability for delivering on them.” For a generation of Australian bankers and investors, she has been the embodiment of that culture.