SAN FRANCISCO—Digital Realty Trust, Inc., a leading global provider of data center solutions, says that Scott Peterson has been appointed chief investment officer, effective immediately.

Peterson previously served as the company's chief acquisitions officer, and in his expanded role, he will be responsible for evaluating capital allocation decisions with a mandate to drive improvement in return on invested capital. The company will not seek a replacement for the chief acquisitions officer role.
"We are pleased to announce Scott's well-deserved appointment to the role of Chief Investment Officer, said Digital Realty's interim CEO William Stein. “As a co-founder of the company and former chief acquisitions officer, he has been an invaluable member of our senior management team, and is the clear-cut choice to lead our efforts to optimize the return on our overall portfolio, rationalize our inventory management, and standardize the underwriting process across all investment disciplines."
Peterson added, "I am honored to have this opportunity, and eager to harness the considerable real estate investing expertise of our talented acquisitions team, which has been responsible for closing approximately $6 billion in data center transactions. I look forward to working with my partners across the organization to further our corporate objective of optimizing the return on our overall portfolio."
Peterson has led the company's acquisition activities since 2004. Prior to Digital Realty, he was a managing director at GI Partners, the company's predecessor private equity fund. Peterson has 27 years of real estate experience, including as SVP with GIC Real Estate, the real estate investment entity for the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. He was also active in investments, development and asset management with LaSalle Partners, a real estate services company, and Trammel Crow Company, a real estate developer. Peterson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern University.