Sri Lankan-origin Australian business executive Shemara Wikramanayake is set to retire as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Group in November, ending a career spanning nearly four decades with the global financial services giant.
Macquarie Group announced that Wikramanayake, 64, will retire and step down from the boards of Macquarie Group Limited and Macquarie Bank Limited on November 6, 2026. Greg Ward, currently Head of Banking and Financial Services, has been selected as her successor, subject to the necessary approvals.
Wikramanayake, who has Sri Lankan family roots, has led Macquarie since late 2018, becoming the group’s first female CEO.
She joined Macquarie in Sydney in 1987 and has worked across six countries and several business divisions during her career. Before becoming CEO, she spent a decade as Head of Macquarie Asset Management, helping develop the business into a major global manager of infrastructure and real assets.
Her retirement has also drawn attention to her substantial personal shareholding in Macquarie.
According to Australian media reports, Wikramanayake directly owns 1,474,481 Macquarie shares, currently valued at more than US$260 million.
She also reportedly holds 378,091 restricted share units and 62,106 performance share units, potentially adding tens of millions of dollars to the value of her holdings.
Wikramanayake was also among Australia’s highest-paid chief executives, with her total remuneration reported at just under US$21 million last year.
Macquarie Chairman Glenn Stevens praised Wikramanayake’s leadership, saying she had steered the company through expansion into new markets and the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic during her eight years as CEO.
Wikramanayake said it had been a privilege to lead Macquarie and expressed confidence in Ward’s ability to build on the group’s six-decade history.
Ward has been with Macquarie since 1996 and has worked with Wikramanayake for around three decades.
Macquarie remains one of Australia’s biggest financial services groups, with operations across 30 markets and more than 19,000 employees globally.
The group reported a full-year profit equivalent to approximately US$3.4 billion for the financial year ended March 2026, up 30% from the previous year.
Ward is expected to take over as Macquarie CEO following Wikramanayake’s retirement in November. (Newswire)
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