Wikramanayake exit highlights women leadership pipeline gap: CEW

Macquarie chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake's resignation highlights a gap in the economy of not having enough women in the leadership pipeline, Chief Executive Women (CEW) said.

After nearly four decades at Macquarie, Wikramanayake will retire from the role in November. With her resignation, none of the top finance companies in the ASX20 will have a female in the top job.

Current Macquarie head of banking and financial services Greg Ward has been named as Wikramanayake's successor, effective November 7.

CEW chief executive Lisa Annese said when the number of women in leadership positions is small a handful of departures registers when it's a woman.

"What we would like to see is a focus on sustained pipeline development for women," Annese said.

"So that when it comes time to finding the replacement or appointing the next chief executive, there are just as many qualified women as there are qualified men in line for that appointment and ready to be considered."

She noted the commentary was not specific for Macquarie and generally as an economy we can do better around who's in the pipeline for the next role.

Annese adds the pool of candidates is very narrow when looking at a chief executive appointment.

"It's about who is in that team that could be positioned for the next chief executive role, and that's where I think there's an opportunity to build from middle management into executive leadership," she said.

Wikramanayake joined the banking giant in 1987, having led various business divisions, including its asset management business for more than a decade, across Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia.

She was appointed chief executive and managing director in December 2018, succeeding Nicholas Moore who served as chief executive for 10 years.

"She's had a long tenure at Macquarie, achieved amazing things, and now moving on to the next phase of her life, and she's been an extraordinary chief executive," Annese said.