A turbocharger (18) includes a shaft (20), a mixed flow turbine wheel (40) including a wheel hub (44) and blades having tips (42), and a heat shield (11). The heat shield (11) has a side wall, an end (19), and a contoured front edge (13) that connects the sidewall (16) and the end (19). The front edge (13) of the heat shield (11) defines a slope that forms an imaginary line that is angled relative to the sidewall (16) and the end (19), and intersects an axis of rotation of the shaft (20). The heat shield (11) resides at a position that is between a bearing housing (22) of the turbocharger (18) and the turbine wheel (40), and axially inward relative to an axially-facing surface of a turbine volute (24), and between the bearing housing (22) and the turbine wheel (40).