Larry Fink

CEO Larry Fink announced a new focus on ESG in January, however the coronavirus has pushed a separate set of urgent issues into the forefront.

As proxy season nears, concerns grow around whether the manager is equipped to probe the companies in its funds to a more environmentally friendly line.

The firm now plans to integrate sustainability criteria into portfolio construction and exit investments with high risks from ESG-related issues.

Jeff Smith's dismissal was first announced in a memo by CEO Larry Fink and President Rob Kapito, who only said the executive had violated corporate policy.

At a meeting last year, the firm’s CEO discussed how behavior would be held to a higher standard than rank-and-file employees, people familiar with the matter said.

Mark Wiseman, global head of active equities and frontrunner to succeed CEO Larry Fink, said he failed to disclose a consensual relationship with a colleague.

“We need someone with a deep understanding of BlackRock, our business and, above all, our culture,” CEO Larry Fink wrote in a memo.

Investors wary of an intensifying trade war have piled into the firm's bond products, boosting net flows to $151 billion, according to the company.

Activist investors have taken large stakes in at least 100 of the products so far this year.

The firm, along with the broader asset management industry, is focused on ways to expand its global reach amid mounting pressure for growth.

The asset manager’s share price fell 24% in 2018 while institutions have pulled money from its investment products for three straight quarters.

Part of the risk in any pivot to private equity is whether it would be essentially pawning what has been until recently a diamond of a business model.

The asset manager is shifting more responsibility to regional leaders.

The purchase will add to one of the asset manager’s key businesses, Aladdin.

Institutional withdrawals amounted to nearly $35 billion in the fourth quarter.

Mark Wiedman’s takeover as head of international and corporate strategy could be a sign of larger changes ahead, a memo suggests.

It's the firm's largest headcount reduction since 2016.

An index of asset managers and custody banks has lost almost a quarter of its value this year.

Outflows were offset by the firm’s iShares ETF business, which saw net inflows of $33.7 billion in the period.

The firm aims to target affluent mainland investors for the first time, while making it free of various offshore investment restrictions.