Michael O’Brien stepped down as managing director at BlackRock and head of distribution in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to pursue other business interests, Mr. O’Brien said Friday.
In a telephone interview, he said will be involved in “outside business interests” over the summer, but plans to return to money management later this year. He declined to provide additional details.
Mr. O’Brien was replaced by Charles Prideaux, formerly COO of global fundamental equities at BlackRock, a BlackRock spokeswoman said. Mr. Prideaux's duties were divided among existing team members: Doug Shaw, former managing director and head of the proprietary alpha strategies team, becomes COO of fundamental equities in EMEA; Hugh Hurley, former managing director and global head of the product specialist team, becomes COO of fundamental equities in the U.S.; and Marc Desmidt, formerly managing director and CEO of fundamental equities business in Asia Pacific, becomes COO of fundamental equities in Asia Pacific.
