(Pictured: Martin Franc)

Invesco Ltd has recruited a new country head for its Australian asset management business following the departure of CEO Mick O’Brien after seven years with the firm.

Invesco, which has about US$750 billion under management globally but has struggled to gain traction in Australia since it acquired County Investment Management in 2001, has recruited the head of sales and marketing at BT Investment Management, Martin Franc, as its new CEO, to be based in Melbourne.

Franc has been associated with BT for much of his career. He started at the former Bankers Trust in 1994 and then worked for what was an associate company for a time, Putnam Investments, and American Express Asset Management, before returning to the BT fold. He has been with BT Financial Group and then BT Investment Management for the past seven years. He will relocate to Melbourne from Sydney for the Invesco role at the end of the year, after commuting from his commencement in mid-October.

Franc said last week that the Invesco job was a “great opportunity” and he was impressed by the enthusiasm of the senior management in the US for expansion in Australia.

Invesco has a range of investment strategies on offer in Australia including global equities, fixed interest and both listed and unlisted property. Franc said Invesco had a strong capability in bank loans, managed out of the US, and was adding breadth and depth to its other fixed interest strategies.

The US-listed company acquired Concord Capital in 2010 but this proved to be an unhappy experience. The Concord division at Invesco Australia was closed in early 2013. Concord had been the internal investment management team which was spun off, and later dumped as a sub-advisor, by MLC.

Like Mick O’Brien, Invesco’s CEO for international, based in the US, Mark Armour, is an Australian who worked at the former AXA Group in Australia through the late 1990s and early 2000s. Armour ran Invesco in Australia prior to O’Brien joining the firm.