BlackRock Leadership Roles Are Split at European Unit -- WSJ
June 14 2019 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Dawn Lim
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (June 14, 2019).
BlackRock Inc. is installing a new boss at its European
stock-picking arm as the Wall Street behemoth looks to boost
returns and assets in that part of its business.
The leadership change comes as stock pickers across the industry
are rethinking their businesses to stem the tide of money flowing
into cheaper index funds. Some of BlackRock's European
stock-picking funds delivered underperformance and outflows in
recent years, said a person familiar with the matter.
Nigel Bolton had been in charge of the business and investments
of BlackRock's European fundamental active equities arm, which
oversees roughly $60 billion. The leadership change, said the
person familiar with the matter, will split responsibilities
between Mr. Bolton and Becci McKinley-Rowe, a new hire from Morgan
Stanley who had been head of global equity sales.
Mr. Bolton will be in charge of investments and Ms.
McKinley-Rowe will run the business side, this person said. Mr.
Bolton will no longer be lead manager at seven funds he previously
led, this person said. Other portfolio managers will assume
leadership of those funds, which hold some $3 billion, as he
focuses on overseeing investments more broadly.
This isn't the first time BlackRock has revamped the operations
of its actively managed equities business. It cut staffers and
slashed prices for a number of funds as part of an overhaul
engineered by active equities chief Mark Wiseman that was launched
in 2017. It asked teams to use more computer models and data to aid
investment decisions, and has called for managers to take more
concentrated bets.
BlackRock became a $6.5 trillion investment giant with the rise
of index funds and exchange-traded funds that track market indexes.
Active equity managers, or those who generally try to beat the
market, oversee about one-tenth of BlackRock's equity assets.
Stock pickers across the money-management world have lost
dollars and influence to index giants as investors flocked to
lower-fee products over the last decade. Many have struggled to
beat the roaring bull market.
Investors' embrace of low-cost index funds has also pushed
active managers to lower costs. BlackRock is cutting prices for one
European fundamental equities fund, said a person familiar with the
matter.
Write to Dawn Lim at dawn.lim@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 14, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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