Board of Directors

Mr. Bennett was behind the launch of AIX in 2018 and served as CEO till 2021. Previously he was the CEO of NZX, the operator of New Zealand’s securities and derivatives markets and provider of trading, post-trade and data services. Mr. Bennett led NZX through a period of significant organizational and regulatory change, including the replacement and upgrading of NZX’s trading and clearing systems, and the launch of 23 ETF through NZX Funds Management.

Prior to joining NZX, Mr. Bennett was a Partner at Oliver Wyman and Boston Consulting Group in Asia.

Mr. Bennett holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a B.C.A from Victoria University of Wellington.

Assel Mukazhanova was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the AIX from September 7, 2023.
Previously, Assel Mukazhanova has been serving as Chief Markets and Products Officer, Member of the Management Committee and since January 2023 headed the AIX as an Acting Chief Executive Officer.
Assel Mukazhanova had started her career in 1992 in Currency Operations department of Turan Bank. She has more than 25 years of experience in the financial and banking services industry and before joining AIFC/AIX, Assel held a role of Executive Director at JSC “Kazkommertsbank” focused on international banking, capital markets, investor relations, M&A and strategy issues.
Mrs. Mukazhanova has an extensive work experience with the international business community being deeply involved into various milestone fund raising transactions including but not limited to syndicated loans, Eurobonds, securitization, private placements. She played a leading role in M&A transactions in the past and has been working on strategy development projects. Assel has been taking active part in pre-IPO transactions with strategic investors followed by one of the first international IPOs from Kazakhstan as well as the recently done IPO of NC JSC “Kazmunaygas”.
Assel graduated from the Kazakh Academy of Management with a degree in International Business and also followed executive courses at London and Harvard Business schools.

Mr. Kussainov has an extensive work experience – prior to joining AIFC, he held the position of the Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan for two years, headed the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, worked as a managing partner in the Al Falah Partners direct investment fund, headed the “Center for Marketing and Analytical Research” JSC, was an adviser to the Minister of Economy and Budget Planning of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and led a special group of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Kazakhstan on accession to the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

He graduated from the Kazakh State Academy of Management and Stanford Business School.

Mrs. Janet Heckman was the Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) Region at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) from February 2017 until December 2019. Based in Cairo, she was also the Country Head for Egypt.

Mrs. Heckman joined the EBRD in Almaty in July 2012 from Citi as Director, Head of Kazakhstan and appointed as an independent Air Astana Board Director in 2019. During her long career at Citi, she spent time as EMEA Corporate and Investment Managing Director and held a number of field roles across EMEA, and was responsible for Global Relationship Banking across CEMEA.

Mrs. Heckman holds a Master’s of Science in Foreign Service with distinction from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. and a BA in History from Kenyon College, Ohio. She also studied at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

Vice Chair of the Global Business Committee, Shanghai Stock Exchange

Dr. Fu holds Ph.D. in Finance from Fudan University, and Master’s degree in Economics, Bachelor’s degree in International Trade from Sichuan University, China. He also serves as the Managing Director of the Global Business Development Department and Leader of the Free Trade Zone Trading Platform Preparation team of Shanghai Stock Exchange. Dr. Fu has received awards for Shanghai Financial leading talent (2017) and Shanghai Financial Innovative Figure (2014).

Patrick O’Brien is the founding partner of Blizzard Partners Limited, a UK-based investment and advisory boutique with interests in the UK and Asia.
Patrick currently sits on the Advisory Boards of a number of Companies & Funds.
Prior to that, he spent over six years as a Partner of ADM Capital LLP based in London. Patrick joined ADM Capital from UBS Investment Bank which he left after 21 years, most recently as the Head of European Debt Capital Markets responsible for financing and risk management activities of the bank in Europe.
His investment experience includes early stage, growth, and opportunistic investment, taking both majority and minority positions across a wide range of sectors including Technology, Consumer, Healthcare, Agriculture, manufacturing, Renewable Energy, Leisure, Real Estate, Transportation, and Education.
Patrick has an LLB(Hons) from University College London.