AMP chairman Simon McKeon to retire from board

AMP’s chairman Simon McKeon will retire from its board next month following a change in his “circumstances”.

Simon McKeon addresses a conference in Melbourne in March. Pic: Stuart McEvoy

AMP chairman Simon McKeon is to retire from the financial services giant’s board after its annual general meeting in May, blaming a change in his “circumstances”.

John Palmer will become interim chairman until a permanent replacement is found. Mr Palmer announced last month that he would also step down from the board after the AGM, but will now stay on until the successor as chairman is in place.

“I am disappointed to leave the board following a change in my circumstances,” Mr McKeon said in a statement. “It has been an honour to be the chairman of AMP Limited. I have every confidence in the strategy and management team and believe that AMP is well positioned to grow over the long term.”

While AMP would not further explain the “change” in Mr McKeon’s circumstances, the 2011 Australian of the Year has said he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis over a decade ago and, in a biography on a celebrity speakers’ website, “vowed to make every day count”.

In an interview with The Australian’s Glenda Korporaal in December 2015, Mr McKeon said he was not keen on talking about his MS as it was “at the easy end of the spectrum” and so many other people really had a much more difficult time of it.

“ I was diagnosed well over 10 years ago. It hit me pretty hard early on. I was paralysed from the hips down for the first couple of weeks and I went blind for a few days.

“But I have none of those symptoms now. I ended up at the really easy end of the spectrum and it doesn’t fuss me at all.

“I am acutely aware that for so many people (who have MS) it is in their face 24 hours a day.

“It was my own experience of having a near-death experience. I have ended up in an incredibly fortunate place but it has allowed me to empathise a bit more credibly with those for whom the path has been a lot tougher.”

Mr Palmer has been on the AMP (AMP) board since July 2007 and has also been on the boards of Air New Zealand, Rabobank New Zealand and Solid Energy New Zealand.

AMP last month announced that Brian Clark would also retire from the board after the AGM, while Seek Group chief financial officer Geoff Roberts is set to join as a non-executive director from July 1.