STT State Street Corporation

BlackRock Inc. is cutting about 400 jobs, or roughly 3% of its staff, as the world's largest money manager tries to streamline parts of its business and bolster areas it believes are poised for growth, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The company plans to implement the cuts in the coming weeks, with head count reductions expected across a range of business areas, levels of seniority and offices world-wide, the person said.

The layoffs are the largest ever for the $4.65 trillion money manager, which has about 13,000 employees globally.

BlackRock's latest cost-cutting plans were reported earlier by Bloomberg News.

It wasn't clear which areas would be affected by the cuts. Money managers have sought to expand higher-fee businesses as the economics of traditional stock and bond picking have come under pressure from index-tracking funds.

BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink has highlighted as growth areas the firm's exchange-traded funds business, "alternatives" that include hedge funds, real estate and infrastructure investments, and so-called multiasset strategies that invest across a range of asset classes.

The firm also conducted a round of job cuts in 2013, slashing 300 jobs. It ended that year with about 11,400 staff.

BlackRock has performed better than many of its peers in recent years, benefiting from a wide range of businesses that includes ETFs as well as a relatively stable base of large institutional clients. But asset managers broadly have been pressured by growing regulatory burdens, volatile markets and shifting investor tastes, with clients increasingly opting for lower-cost passive products.

BlackRock isn't the only money manager to cut staff in recent months. Franklin Resources Inc. said in its most recent quarterly earnings that it would implement buyouts for about 300 of its 9,400 employees. This year, AllianceBernstein LP cut some of its fixed-income staff, and State Street Corp. is in the midst of a five-year cost-cutting effort across its business.

Write to Sarah Krouse at sarah.krouse@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 30, 2016 17:05 ET (21:05 GMT)

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