LSEG Names New Data Head; Makepeace Becomes Non-Exec Chair

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has appointed Waqas Samad group director of the exchange group’s information services division to develop LSEG’s customer partnership approach and deliver data-driven analytical insights for customers.

The current group director, Mark Makepeace, will remain with LSEG throughout 2019 and will assume the role of non-executive chairman. 

Makepeace spent his career developing the global index industry. He served 10 years at the LSEG managing and supporting the IT and information services division. Following LSEG, he founded FTSE Russell, where he transformed the London-based start-up into a global index business.

He has spent over seven years at LSEG in the group director position, and is responsible for leading the acquisitions and integrations of Russell Indexes, Mergent, TMX, Citi Fixed Income Indices and the Yield Book. 

Both Makepeace and Samad will report to David Schwimmer, LSEG CEO. 

Samad has spent over two years at FTSE Russell as the CEO of benchmarks, and CEO of benchmarks, fixed income and multi asset. Prior to that, he spent eight years as the CEO of the Barclays Risk and Analytics and Index Solutions, and three years as the head of index research of Europe and Asia at Deutsche Bank.

Samad was recruited by Makepeace in 2016 and was deemed “his natural successor,” according to an LSEG statement.