The exits were announced in a memo to staff from Larry Fink, chair and chief executive at BlackRock, and Rob Kapito, president, on Friday (12 January), following the firm’s fourth quarter earnings call and the announcement of its $12.5bn acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners.
In the memo, seen by Investment Week, the asset management giant said Ramji would be leaving the firm after a decade to pursue “a new career path” and seek a senior leadership role outside the firm.
His departure coincides with the creation of a new strategic Global Product Solutions business, which will work across all investment strategies, asset classes and fund structures, including iShares products and portfolio consulting functions.
BlackRock acquires Global Infrastructure Partners for $12.5bn in private markets push
“iShares has long been an engine of innovation and growth. This change will help us drive the next phase of growth for iShares and the entire firm. And, it will ensure that delivering investment performance is our highest priority,” the memo said.
The new unit, led by Stephen Cohen as chief product officer, will integrate active and index strategies across ETFs, mutual funds and separate accounts, spanning liquid and illiquid assets in public and private markets.
“The immediate priority of this business will be to deliver BlackRock’s unparalleled breadth of investment strategies to clients based on what clients prefer, not based on the structure of our organisation,” the firm said.
“It will sharpen our commercial focus on active and private markets strategies and help deliver high-performing products to our clients in those areas.”
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Jessica Tan will serve as head of global product solutions for the Americas, while Jane Sloan will become head of global product solutions for Europe and the Middle East.
BlackRock’s EII “engine”, which comprises the ETF markets and index investor teams, will continue to be led by Samara Cohen and remain part of BlackRock Global Markets.
GIP combination
In the memo, Fink and Kapito added the GIP acquisition would “catapult” BlackRock into a leadership position in infrastructure investing, which they said will be “one of the fastest growing areas” of the industry over the next ten years.
“We believe [new infrastructure] will be a defining feature of asset management in the decade to come, just as the revolution of ETFs defined the past ten years,” the memo said.
Once the transaction closes, the firm’s existing infrastructure teams will be combined with GIP, creating the second largest global infrastructure manager, with over $150bn in assets under management.
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Global head of equity private markets Conway is set to depart after 13 years at the firm to “explore new opportunities outside the firm”.
However, he will remain at BlackRock until the integration with GIP is complete. With this change, Brent Patry will continue to lead the Equity Private Markets group.
BlackRock will also create a new international business structure to unite four growth regions outside the Americas: Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia Pacific. The unit will be led by Rachel Lord, while Susan Chan will take over as head of Asia Pacific.
The changes also follow reports that BlackRock is preparing to announce plans to lay off roughly 3% of its global workforce, or 600 people, with savings from the job cuts earmarked to expand into growth businesses such as technology investing and alternative investment products.
