The AMP board closed ranks behind Catherine Brenner two years ago when it was appointing a new chairman, choosing her over the far more highly regarded and qualified candidate Andrew Mohl.

The Australian Financial Review can reveal that Mohl, the former AMP chief executive who pulled the company back from the brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s, expressed an interest in taking on the chairman's role in the wake of Simon McKeon's abrupt departure in April 2016. Instead, the AMP board selected Brenner, a former investment banker.