Joshua Levine, a former head of the America’s institutional sales team at The Permal Group, is joining BlackRock to lead the firm’s public and corporate pension plan effort on the East Coast.
Levine, who will start in March, will have the title of managing director at BlacRock, and be part of the firm’s U.S. and Canada institutional team, reporting to managing director Edwin Conway, who joined BlackRock in March 2011 as head of the U.S. & Canada institutional business within the firm’s Global Client Group. As co-leader of the pension business, Levine will handle the group’s operations along the East Coast, developing and managing relationships with institutional clients in that region, while managing director Al Goduti will handle the business on the West Coast.
This will be the second stint at BlackRock for Levine. Before joining the Permal Group in 2007, Levine had served as director of BlackRock’s Latin American institutional business.
At Permal, Levine executed the firm’s institutional strategy in the Americas and directed the institutional sales team for the region. He grew the company’s client base to include public, sovereign wealth, and Taft Hartley funds, as well as foundations and endowments.
A Permal spokesperson told Money Management Executive that: "Josh was co-Head of Global Sales and left in early December last year. The role of co-Head is now defunct and his other co-Head, Roberto Giuffrida, is today Head of Global Business Development."
BlackRock's U.S. & Canada institutional business has $1.1 trillion of assets under management and is responsible for all client service and sales activities within the region.
