Jarden’s Bill Trotter steps aside, another Whineray steps in

Former Mercury chief executive and Fonterra chief operating officer Fraser Whineray will join Jarden as executive chairman.

After 22 years as executive chairman of the transtasman investment bank and wealth advisory group Jarden, Bill Trotter is stepping aside.

Fraser Whineray, former Mercury chief executive and Fonterra chief operating officer, will take on the role, the company announced on Wednesday.

“A new chair is crucial to guiding Jarden through its next phase, particularly as we strengthen our client focus across Australasia,” Trotter said today.

“Fraser is one of the most outstanding leaders I know, who will undoubtedly sustain our momentum and drive our strategic objectives forward.”

Whineray would be executive chair of the Jarden business which had operated in New Zealand since 1961 and in Australia since 2020.

He had dual citizenship, the announcement read.

“It is my privilege to chair an established 60-year-strong brand in New Zealand and a burgeoning player in the Australian market,” Whineray said in the announcement.

He remained a director of Waste Management New Zealand and the Port of Tauranga’s majority owner, Quayside.

It was a full circle appointment for Whineray who started his career at Jarden in 1997. At that time it was named Credit Suisse First Boston.

“I’m delighted to be returning to Jarden and the Australasian financial services sector,” he said.

“Having spent most of my career on the client side of the board table, my focus will be on helping Jarden’s clients achieve long-term success while mitigating undue risk in volatile times.”

His role would include supporting Jarden directors and co-chief executives in Australia, Sarah Rennie and Aidan Allen, according to the announcement.

Whineray is the brother of Matt Whineray, the chairman of FirstCape, which was formed in May through a $44 billion mega-merger of Jarden’s wealth business, Harbour Asset Management, BNZ wealth and JB Were.

FirstCape was co-owned by Jarden, BNZ’s parent National Australia Bank and private equity firm Private Equity Partners.

Jarden strategically separated its wealth and investment banking businesses this year when FirstCape launched.

Trotter would shift to a director position on the board of Jarden’s capital markets business, alongside wealth advisor Murray Graham, Sean Keane, Sam Ricketts the co-head of Jarden’s New Zealand investment banking division, and Malcolm Jackson, the former chief executive of Jarden wealth, now chief executive of FirstCape.

Trotter owned 10.4 per cent of the firm, according to Companies Office records.

He was appointed chairman of Jarden, then called First NZ Capital, in 2002. Before that he was chief executive of the firm, then called Credit Suisse First Boston.

Madison Reidy is host and executive producer of the NZ Herald’s investment show Markets with Madison. She joined the Herald in 2022 after working in investment (at Jarden), and has covered business and economics for television and radio broadcasters.