BlackRock has promoted Stephen Cohen to head of EMEA as Rachel Lord relocates to Hong Kong to lead the firm’s Asia-Pacific business.
Effective 1 April, in his new role, Cohen (pictured), who was head of iShares, wealth and index investments at BlackRock, will be responsible for advancing the strategy put in place by his predecessor Lord.
This includes localising the firm, bringing the whole portfolio together for clients, and growing iShares, private markets, Aladdin, cash and active strategies.
BlackRock is currently working to identify a replacement for Cohen.
Cohen was head of iShares EMEA for four years from September 2017. In that time he saw the ETF business grow from $330bn to almost $600bn, cementing the firm as the biggest ETF issuer in Europe by some distance.
He joined BlackRock in 2011 and has since held a number of roles including global head of fixed income index.
Prior to this, he spent eight years at Nomura as head of equity-linked strategy while also holding roles at ING and UBS.
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Meanwhile, Lord will take charge as BlackRock’s chair and head of Asia-Pacific, effective 1 May, subject to regulatory approval.
She was appointed the firm’s head of EMEA in 2017 and is also a member of its global executive committee.
Mark Wiedman, head of international and corporate strategy at BlackRock, commented: “The appointment of one of the firm’s strongest leaders to head up our APAC business underscores our commitment to this fast-growing region as a top strategic priority for BlackRock.
“Rachel has piloted growth in assets and revenue in a complex EMEA region undergoing economic and regulatory shifts, while taking BlackRock deeper into local markets.”
