Fernando Machado

Fernando Machado advises boards, CEOs, and investors on leadership succession, C-suite composition, and critical leadership transitions. His approach is consultative and long-term: the value of the work lies in the judgment before and after the decision, from designing the role to calibrating the profile against market reality. The relationships he has built over many years with CEOs and senior leaders across his sectors, independent of any active mandate, give him a continuous, calibrated read of established and emerging leadership talent in the market.

His work combines executive search with ongoing board advisory: board effectiveness and composition, director searches across his sectors, succession planning and senior leadership development in Financial Services and Technology.

Fernando leads Russell Reynolds Associates’ Financial Services, Technology, and Private Capital practices in Brazil, and is a member of the global Financial Officers and Technology Officers practices. Based in São Paulo, he leads CEO successions, C-suite appointments and board composition work for listed companies, financial institutions, and institutional investors across Brazil and Latin America.

Before becoming a leadership advisor, Fernando built an executive career in financial services: he was Director of M&A at Banco Votorantim, where he spent nine years in roles of increasing seniority across Business Development, Capital Markets and Investment Banking, leading strategic transactions with market-leading Brazilian companies and private equity funds. Earlier, he was an Executive Director with The Boston Consulting Group, working in both Boston and São Paulo over eight years, and began his career in Citigroup Brazil's Global Corporate Banking division. Having sat on the client's side of the table, hiring, succeeding, and answering to shareholders is the foundation of his advisory work.