BlackRock Overview for Program Facilitators About BlackRock BlackRock is one of the world’s preeminent asset management firms and a premier provider of global investment management, risk management and advisory services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors around the world. BlackRock offers a range of solutions — from rigorous fundamental and quantitative active management approaches aimed at maximizing out performance to highly efficient indexing strategies designed to gain broad exposure to the world’s capital markets. Our clients can access our investment solutions through a variety of product structures, including individual and institutional separate accounts, mutual funds and other pooled investment vehicles, and the industry-leading iShares ® ETFs. The foundation of BlackRock’s business is our belief that our clients’ needs are of paramount importance. Our commitment to investment excellence is anchored in a shared culture that always places a client’s interests first, from individual investors to the world’s largest institutions. We act always as a fiduciary for our clients, never trading as a principal on our own behalf. BlackRock’s investment approach is based on our conviction that we can combine our market insights, our global reach and scale, our proprietary technology, our culture of information sharing and our unwavering focus on risk management into an ability to deliver performance in all market environments. BlackRock is committed to providing a broad set of investment solutions for our clients, striving to achieve the best balance between risk and opportunity. We strive to exceed expectations in all areas of our business all the time. BlackRock’s Philosophy Since our founding, BlackRock’s core philosophy has been grounded in the belief that our clients’ needs are of paramount importance and our sole business is managing our clients’ assets on their behalf. We are committed to always doing what is in our clients’ best long-term interests. With this as a framework, BlackRock has assembled teams of investment professionals with significant expertise in global capital markets. Through BlackRock Solutions, we continue to invest substantial resources in the ongoing development of our technology and analytic capabilities, for both internal users and BlackRock Solutions clients. Our focus on investment excellence and state-of-the-art analytics is complemented by an unwavering, senior-level commitment to service; this results in dynamic client relationships and enables us to assist clients with a range of services, including an understanding of liabilities and asset allocation needs. Given our size, scope and global footprint we strive for a consistent, interconnected “One BlackRock” approach. BlackRock takes a three dimensional approach to the management of the organization, incorporating functional, product and regional elements in support of our clients’ goals. The functional dimension looks at our operations by specific task, such as portfolio management, account management or operations. The product dimension brings together the cross-disciplinary expertise critical to managing client assets in each class. Finally, the regional aspect of our model recognizes the unique, geography- specific needs of clients as well as the importance of local regulatory issues. Distinct but interconnected, these factors work together to inform all of our business decisions and result in a firm that is globally efficient and locally effective. With our three-dimensional approach to managing the organization, we seek to: } Ensure consistency on a global basis; } Allow for the tailoring of products and services according to client or local needs; } Promote teamwork among our employees worldwide; and } Facilitate operational integrity and efficiency. BlackRock’s History Since its founding in 1988, BlackRock has sought to better serve clients by anticipating and responding to changes and advancements in the investment industry, and continually seeks to broaden and deepen its investment and risk management capabilities. The most recent example is BlackRock’s acquisition in 2009 of Barclays Global Investors, the firm that created the first index strategy in 1971 and was one of the world’s largest providers of structured investment strategies, including indexing, market strategies, and risk-controlled active products. Another significant step in this process was BlackRock’s merger with Merrill Lynch
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BlackRock Overview for Program Facilitators
About BlackRock
BlackRock is one of the world’s preeminent asset management
firms and a premier provider of global investment management,
risk management and advisory services to institutional, intermediary
and individual investors around the world. BlackRock offers a
range of solutions — from rigorous fundamental and quantitative
active management approaches aimed at maximizing out
performance to highly efficient indexing strategies designed to
gain broad exposure to the world’s capital markets. Our clients
can access our investment solutions through a variety of product
structures, including individual and institutional separate
accounts, mutual funds and other pooled investment
vehicles, and the industry-leading iShares® ETFs.
The foundation of BlackRock’s business is our belief that our
clients’ needs are of paramount importance. Our commitment to
investment excellence is anchored in a shared culture that always
places a client’s interests first, from individual investors to the
world’s largest institutions. We act always as a fiduciary for our
clients, never trading as a principal on our own behalf.
BlackRock’s investment approach is based on our conviction that
we can combine our market insights, our global reach and scale,
our proprietary technology, our culture of information sharing
and our unwavering focus on risk management into an ability to
deliver performance in all market environments. BlackRock is
committed to providing a broad set of investment solutions for
our clients, striving to achieve the best balance between risk and
opportunity. We strive to exceed expectations in all areas of our
business all the time.
BlackRock’s Philosophy
Since our founding, BlackRock’s core philosophy has been
grounded in the belief that our clients’ needs are of paramount
importance and our sole business is managing our clients’ assets
on their behalf. We are committed to always doing what is in our
clients’ best long-term interests.
With this as a framework, BlackRock has assembled teams of
investment professionals with significant expertise in global
capital markets. Through BlackRock Solutions, we continue to
invest substantial resources in the ongoing development of our
technology and analytic capabilities, for both internal users and
BlackRock Solutions clients. Our focus on investment excellence
and state-of-the-art analytics is complemented by an unwavering,
senior-level commitment to service; this results in dynamic client
relationships and enables us to assist clients with a range of services,
including an understanding of liabilities and asset allocation needs.
Given our size, scope and global footprint we strive for a consistent, interconnected “One BlackRock” approach.
BlackRock takes a three dimensional approach to the management
of the organization, incorporating functional, product and regional
elements in support of our clients’ goals. The functional
dimension looks at our operations by specific task, such as
portfolio management, account management or operations.
The product dimension brings together the cross-disciplinary
expertise critical to managing client assets in each class. Finally,
the regional aspect of our model recognizes the unique, geography-
specific needs of clients as well as the importance of local
regulatory issues.
Distinct but interconnected, these factors work together to inform
all of our business decisions and result in a firm that is globally
efficient and locally effective. With our three-dimensional
approach to managing the organization, we seek to:
}Ensure consistency on a global basis;
}Allow for the tailoring of products and services according to
client or local needs;
}Promote teamwork among our employees worldwide; and
}Facilitate operational integrity and efficiency.
BlackRock’s History
Since its founding in 1988, BlackRock has sought to better
serve clients by anticipating and responding to changes and
advancements in the investment industry, and continually
seeks to broaden and deepen its investment and risk
management capabilities.
The most recent example is BlackRock’s acquisition in 2009 of
Barclays Global Investors, the firm that created the first index
strategy in 1971 and was one of the world’s largest providers of
structured investment strategies, including indexing, market
strategies, and risk-controlled active products. Another significant
step in this process was BlackRock’s merger with Merrill Lynch
Investment Managers (MLIM) in 2006, which combined the history
and experience of MLIM with the innovation and technology of
the legacy BlackRock organization. MLIM’s history of managing
assets began in the UK in 1946 as part of S.G. Warburg & Co.
(later known as Mercury Asset Management) and in the US in
1976 under the Merrill Lynch name. In October 2007, BlackRock,
Inc. acquired the fund of funds business of Quellos Group, LLC,
forming one integrated fund of funds platform. The combined
business provides hedge, private equity and real asset fund of
funds to institutional and individual investors worldwide.
Today, BlackRock is a truly global enterprise that combines the
benefits of world-wide reach with localized service. We manage
assets for clients in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia
and the Middle East and Africa. Our client base includes corporate,
public, union and industry pension plans; insurance companies;
combine BlackRock’s industry expertise with our sophisticated
data management, accounting and performance measurement
tools to offer customized solutions to a wide range of financial
institutions. The Investment Accounting team is responsible for
providing these services, including accounting reports in multiple
bases, Schedule D preparation, custodian reconciliation and
performance measurement. The Investment Accounting group
consists of three primary teams: Implementations, Client Service
and Reconciliation. The Implementations team is responsible for
business development and the process of taking on new clients,
including account set up data conversions and business process
redesign. The Client Service team is responsible for ensuring
clients’ ongoing requirements are met including preparing
accounting and performance measurement reports and responding
to client inquiries. Finally, the Reconciliation team is responsible
for the reconciliation between BlackRock Solutions’ accounting
platform and various third parties including custodian banks
and asset managers.
Implementation and Delivery provides project management
and subject matter expertise in support of deploying Aladdin to
both internal and external clients. The Implementation team works
closely with external clients on large-scale projects during which
time they review and revamp clients’ investment business process
to align it with market practice while migrating it to the Aladdin
investment platform. The Delivery team ensures that newly
developed functionality is deployed to existing clients (internal
and external), including providing training and conducting mini-
business process reviews, and provides on-going second level
support for such functions.
BlackRock is proud to be an E-Verify & Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer — M/F/D/V.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.blackrock.com
BlackRock, BlackRock Solutions, Aladdin, Green Package and AnSer are registered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
With operations all over the world and a range of investment products and services,
BlackRock is one of the most complex financial services organizations serving clients
today. In order to achieve operational excellence, the Business Operations Group was
established to ensure BlackRock’s operations are consistent and efficient across
investment products, client channels and regions.
Business Operations is composed of three groups, Aladdin Portfolio Services Group, which is responsible for all information required for the investment management process,
Operations & Administration, which is responsible for providing operational support to
BlackRock’s portfolio management teams and global client groups and manages day-to-
day relationships with external service providers and counterparties for the retail and
institutional businesses and Provider Strategy, which is responsible for ensuring the
The Aladdin Portfolio Services Group (APSG) is a centralized process group dedicated
to ensuring the integrity of information maintained and produced in Aladdin. The group’s
mission is to support the firm’s internal and external clients with the goal of ensuring all
appropriate data is timely and accurate to support the investment management process.
APSG focuses on portfolio set-up, inclusive of IMA negotiations and order processing;
accurate and timely security modeling; cash and asset reconciliations; portfolio
compliance; NAV calculation/performance measurement; and client reporting.
The group comprises three key channels: Client Services, Investment Services
and Portfolio Services. Within each channel, there are sub-categories that have
specialized functions:
Client Services} Portfolio On-Boarding and Control, a central team responsible for providing
direction and holistic understanding of all portfolios globally, certifying readiness
for trading. Initial point of contact for the business as it relates to new business,
portfolio modifications and terminations, as well as the lead liaison to coordinate
the operational setup with the custodian banks. The team maintains the client
portfolio attribute data in the account master.
} AUM & Institutional Administration is responsible for calculating BlackRock’s
global AUM by working with key operating areas of the firm, in addition to supporting
the Fixed Income Institutional Administration team in servicing our clients.
} Client Services is responsible for managing the client order process related to
automated client directed subscriptions/redemptions, managing the client contracting
process for specific client types and has change management responsibilities related
to how audit/regulatory requirements impact the business.
} Client Reporting is responsible for producing customized client and custodian
reporting, as well as managing client mailings and disclosures.
The Business Operations group
hires professionals with industry
experience and undergraduates just
entering the workforce. Industry
professionals come from a wide
range of backgrounds.
Business Operations
Investment ServicesInvestment Services is responsible for ensuring that investment information delivered
to our internal and external clients through the Aladdin platform is accurate, timely and
comprehensive. Investment Services is committed to building and maintaining efficient,
scalable and resilient production processes that provide our clients with high quality
investment (terms and conditions, pricing and analytics) and portfolio data (risk,
performance, attribution and NAVs), which is a critical factor in the investment decision
making process.
Portfolio Services} Portfolio Compliance is responsible for implementing controls and processes
to ensure portfolios are compliant with all applicable regulatory and client-issued
guidelines as they relate to trading and investments. This includes core Aladdin
pre- and post-trade compliance and non-Aladdin trading compliance, mutual fund
monitoring and reporting, and global syndicate offering review. The team produces
daily portfolio level issues and violations for escalation and resolution.
} Cash and Reconciliations is responsible for completing portfolio transaction level
cash/asset reconciliations to external record-keepers (custodian bank, transfer agent,
etc) and provides direct support to the end-users of the data.
} Institutional Admin & Performance performs NAV calculations, performance,
reporting and reconciliations with trustees and custodians and is responsible for the
Global Institutional Separate Accounts covering Fixed Income, Equity and Fiduciary.
Operations & Administration (O&A)
The Operations & Administration (O&A) group handles investment operations and
administration, serves the Portfolio Management and Global Client groups and manages
day-to-day relationships with external service providers and counterparties for both the
retail and institutional businesses.
The O&A functional groups include Investment Operations, Product and Channel Services, Global Fund Administration, Shareholder Services, Pension Administration and Business Finance and Administration.
Investment OperationsThe Investment Operations group is responsible for trading operations and derivatives
operations spanning all products and businesses at BlackRock.
} Trading Operations is responsible for all transaction processing and associated
support including trade confirmation, trade and payment settlement, fail and payment
difference resolution, corporate actions, loan products and compensation claims.
} Derivatives Operations is responsible for collateral management, derivative
confirmations, settlement of derivatives payments, management of legal agreements
and oversight of counterparty exposure for all derivatives. This team will coordinate
internally with portfolio teams and trading desks and externally with all street side
counterparties and prime brokers to achieve a consistent operating model with
strong controls.
Business Operations is
currently in more than 20
operating centers around the
world. In addition to the Americas,
we have dedicated regional teams
in the Pacific Rim and EMEA across
multiple locations supporting the
local manufacturing businesses.
Product and Channel Services} New Product Services is responsible for new product coordination across our
organization in partnership with the Global Client Group (GCG).
} Investor and Channel Services provides dynamic support to Portfolio Management
and GCG to ensure effective coordination across the operating infrastructure to
support the investment process.
Global Fund AdministrationThe Global Fund Administration team manages the accounting infrastructure and
operating control environment for BlackRock’s global commingled vehicles (i.e., mutual
funds, alternatives). The team consists of accounting and administrative professionals
who work closely with the fund’s management to oversee the fiduciary governance of
our commingled vehicles.
Shareholder, Transfer Agent and Distribution ServicesThe Shareholder, Transfer Agent and Distribution Services group is responsible for global
oversight of the Transfer Agents for the open-end, closed-end and alternatives products,
Dealer Servicing, Mutual Fund Dealing and Distribution for the US mutual funds and the
Shareholder Service Centers. This team provides support to the Global Client Group with
the launching of new products, mergers, proxies and servicing the distributors and
shareholders of our funds.
Some of the key functions of this group include distributor and vendor oversight,
commission monitoring, trade reconciliation, large trade monitoring, broker-dealer
support and input for board meetings.
Pension AdministrationThe Pension Administration group is responsible for Defined Contribution schemes,
bundled services and third-party administration. This rapidly growing business segment
is a key component of our institutional strategy in Europe.
Business Finance & Administration (BFA)Business Finance & Administration is responsible for management information systems,
resource management, strategic planning and operational risk and audit.
Provider Strategy
Provider Strategy is responsible for working across many parts of the firm to ensure
we are properly leveraging our counter-party relationships effectively, maximizing the
benefits of our scale in the industry.
The firm has strategic relationships with several key providers integral to our business
operations (for example, fund accounting, custody and trade processing). These
relationships are long term and complex, and they are financially material to the firm’s
overall performance and include most of the significant Service Providers in the industry.
projections, fund accounting, custody, transfer agency, directed lending services, custom
processes, shadow accounting of client-appointed administrators, coordination and
reconciliations with client-appointed custodians and prime brokerage.
BlackRock is proud to be an E-Verify & Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer — M/F/D/V.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.blackrock.com
BlackRock and BlackRock Solutions are registered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. iShares is a registered trademark of BlackRock Institutional Trust Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
with applicable laws and rules, and is responsible for, among
other things, establishing legal and compliance policies and
procedures that meet applicable regulatory requirements and
testing the operative effectiveness of those policies and
procedures; overseeing all regulatory matters (employees
must direct all communications regarding such matters to
a Department member); coordinating all litigation and legal
proceedings; negotiating contracts (except certain BRS
contracts); and providing compliance training.
BlackRock is proud to be an E-Verify & Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer — M/F/D/V.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.blackrock.com
BlackRock and BlackRock Solutions are registered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. iShares is a registered trademark of BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.