ING Investment Management, the U.S. asset management arm of ING Group, announced that its chairman & CEO, Robert Crispin, plans to retire on December 31.

The company appointed Robert Leary as the new CEO, effective September 4. He will report to Crispin upon his arrival and assume the position of chairman when Crispin retires at year end. Leary will also join the management committee and have all investment, distribution and administration divisions reporting to him immediately.

Leary has had an extensive career in financial services, most recently as executive vice president, AIG Financial Products Corp., a financial products subsidiary of AIG Group, Inc. that concentrates on the derivatives and structured products market as well as acting as principal in a wide variety of investments.

Before AIG, he was with J.P. Morgan, developing derivatives and structured products for a wide range of institutions. He began his career as a lawyer with White & Case, where he helped establish the firm’s Middle East presence with an office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Leary received his J.D. from Fordham University, School of Law, NY and is a graduate of Union College, NY, with an honors degree in political science.

ING Investment Management is a global organization with over US$400 billion in assets under management across 30 countries.