BlackRock Executive Ousted for Failing to Disclose Personal Relationship -- 2nd Update
December 05 2019 - 12:53PM
Dow Jones News
By Dawn Lim
A potential heir to the top job at BlackRock Inc. has been
ousted from the money-management giant for failing to disclose a
relationship with a colleague.
Mark Wiseman rose from Canada's public-pension world to become a
protégé to BlackRock's chief executive, Laurence Fink. He was
terminated for violating company policy. BlackRock requires
employees to disclose any relationships -- whether they are with
direct subordinates or with other colleagues -- to the company.
"I engaged in a consensual relationship with one of our
colleagues without reporting it," Mr. Wiseman in a firm memo
Thursday. "I regret my mistake and I accept responsibility for my
actions."
Mr. Wiseman is married to Marcia Moffat, a BlackRock executive
who heads the firm's Canada business. The two were seen as a power
couple at the world's largest asset manager.
"We expect every employee to uphold the highest standards of
behavior," Mr. Fink and President Rob Kapito said in a separate
firmwide memo. They added: "When the firm becomes aware of a breach
of policy or conduct that is not in line with our values, we move
quickly and decisively to address it."
Mr. Wiseman's firing marks a swift fall for the man who was the
face of the roughly $7 trillion indexing giant's ambitions to find
new reach outside funds that track markets. He headed BlackRock's
approximately $300 billion active equities business and directed
the strategy for another business focused on private equity and
other alternatives.
Mr. Wiseman was hired in 2016 from Canada's pension investor,
the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. He was among half a dozen
candidates vying for the top job to succeed Mr. Fink.
During his three-year tenure at BlackRock, he fell short of some
targets.
His recent bid to turn BlackRock, king of the low-fee
exchange-traded fund, into a private-equity titan has gone slower
than expected, according to people familiar with the matter. This
has cost him clout at the firm, they said.
With Mr. Wiseman's departure, BlackRock's alternatives business
will continue to be led by Edwin Conway, who heads day-to-day
operations, and Jim Barry, who leads investments. The leaders of
the various active equity strategies will report to Mr. Kapito
while BlackRock assesses how to structure leadership over that
business.
Write to Dawn Lim at dawn.lim@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 05, 2019 12:38 ET (17:38 GMT)
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