AMP Capital Investors has appointed Mark O’Brien, an AMP stalwart, as its next chief investment officer, to replace Merv Peacock who retires next month.

Most recently O’Brien has been in charge of $14 billion in AMP’s multi-manager international and ‘Future Directions’ funds, on which the manager works with Mercer Investment Consulting. However, O’Brien is a former head of equities for AMP, who took on some business roles in strategic marketing and investor relations before moving back to funds management late last year. Stephen Dunne, the chief executive, said the appointment followed an extensive search in Australia and overseas and he was delighted an internal candidate was found for the job. “Mark has extensive funds management and business expertise, coupled with an understanding of AMP Capital’s strategy, culture and processes and is already well known to our clients and asset consultants,” he said. AMP will look for a replacement to run the multi-manager products.