Pepperstone has appointed Nigel Fernandes as Chief Technology Officer, effective 1 October 2026, to lead the Melbourne-based trading and fintech provider’s push toward building proprietary, AI-native technology infrastructure. The appointment follows the company’s strategic shift to own more of its core systems and expand into new markets including cryptocurrency and institutional-grade services.
- Effective Date: 1 October 2026
- Reporting Line: Group CEO Tamas Szabo
- Geographic Scope: Global leadership across engineering, architecture, security and data
- Client Footprint: More than 160 countries
- Prior Experience: 20+ years in financial services, retail, media and enterprise software
Fernandes joins from Xero, where he served as Senior Vice President and Executive General Manager of Engineering, overseeing cloud platforms, customer identity and data operations across a global team. His previous roles included senior leadership positions at Publicis Sapient, Coles Group, SEEK, and Envato.
The technology underpinning our client experience is core to everything we do. We’re expanding Pepperstone into a genuine fintech ecosystem that opens access to crypto and new markets, while investing in our own technology to give clients a more personalised experience. Nigel’s track record building high-performing engineering teams at some of the world’s best technology companies makes him the right leader to help us build that.
Group CEO Tamas Szabo stated that Fernandes’ experience at leading technology firms positions him to accelerate the company’s engineering foundation and client-focused innovation. Fernandes will be based at Pepperstone’s headquarters in Melbourne, with responsibility for technology, security, and data infrastructure across all operations.
Nigel Fernandes, Chief Technology Officer at Pepperstone. Source: LinkedIn
Tamas Szabo, Group CEO at Pepperstone. Source: LinkedIn
