BlackRock Heritage
Since our founding in 1988, BlackRock has sought to better serve clients by anticipating and responding to changes and advancements in the investment industry, while continually seeking to broaden and deepen our investment and risk management capabilities. The most recent step in our development was the acquisition of the fund of funds business of Quellos Group, LLC, which closed on 1 October 2007. The integration of Quellos' assets into our existing fund of funds business resulted in BlackRock Alternative Advisors, a premier fund of funds platform providing hedge, private equity and real asset fund of funds to institutional and individual investors worldwide.
As we approach our twentieth anniversary, BlackRock is a truly global enterprise. We serve clients in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Japan, Australia and the Middle East. Headquartered in New York, the firm maintains offices in 19 countries around the world. Over one-third of our total assets are managed on behalf of non-U.S. investors, and nearly one-third of our employees live and work outside of the United States.
To deliver creative solutions to investment challenges, BlackRock has long focused on a cross-disciplinary team approach in which clients benefit from the pooled expertise of the firm's resources: our investment and risk management professionals and our internally developed analytical tools. In addition to excellent performance, BlackRock is committed to delivering a high level of service tailored to the needs of each client. BlackRock's client base includes corporate, public, union and industry pension plans; insurance companies; third-party mutual funds; endowments; foundations; charities; corporations; official institutions; banks; and individuals worldwide.
BlackRock is independent in ownership and governance, with no single majority stockholder and a majority of independent directors. In terms of equity ownership, Merrill Lynch's stake is approximately 49%, while The PNC Financial Services Group retains an interest of about 34%; the remaining 17% is held by BlackRock employees and public shareholders.
Our Philosophy
Since our founding, BlackRock's core philosophy has been grounded in the belief that experienced investment professionals using a disciplined process and sophisticated analytical tools can consistently add value to client portfolios. 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.
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
Given our size, scope and global footprint we strive for a consistent, interconnected approach 'One BlackRock'.