Melbourne-based Pepperstone, a global online trading and fintech provider serving clients in more than 160 countries, today announced the appointment of Nigel Fernandes as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

The appointment comes as Pepperstone accelerates its shift toward owning more of its own technology, building a broader fintech ecosystem spanning crypto, AI-native engineering and institutional-grade infrastructure.

As CTO, Fernandes will lead engineering, architecture, security and data globally,

Nigel Fernandes brings more than 20 years of technology leadership experience across financial services, retail, media and enterprise software. He will join from Xero, where he serves as SVP and Executive General Manager of Engineering leading a global organisation across cloud platforms, customer identity and data. Prior to Xero, he held senior leadership roles at Publicis Sapient, Coles Group, SEEK and Envato.

“I’m excited to be joining Pepperstone at such a pivotal time for the business,” said Fernandes. “My focus will be building on the quality global brand that traders have trusted for years, investing in the technology we own to scale an AI-native engineering foundation that gives clients faster, more reliable access to the tools they need.”

“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,” said Tamas Szabo, Group CEO of Pepperstone. “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.”