Legg Mason chief financial officer CJ Daley has announced that he is leaving the company to take a new senior role at an unnamed private asset manager.

The global asset management firm has appointed Terrence Murphy, the chief operating officer of ClearBridge Advisors, to assume the post in the interim. Murphy was previously the chief financial officer of Citigroup Asset Management.

"We want to thank CJ for his 22 years of outstanding service to Legg Mason. At the same time, I am delighted that Terence has agreed to serve as interim CFO," said Mark Fetting, the chairman and CEO of Legg Mason, in a statement.

"Despite very choppy equity markets this past quarter, we continue to make solid progress in performing for our clients and towards streamlining our business model."

The company, which has $658 billion in assets under management, is in the process of engaging an executive search firm to find a permanent CFO. It will consider both internal and external candidates.