BlackRock names new Asia Pacific chief
BlackRock has appointed Geraldine Buckingham as chair and head of Asia Pacific, succeeding Ryan Stork, who will become deputy global chief operating officer.
Both appointments will take effect in February, when Buckingham will relocate to Hong Kong from New York, with Stork moving in the other direction, said a statement released at 8am Hong Kong time today.
Buckingham is currently global head of corporate strategy at BlackRock and a member of the global executive committee. She is responsible for helping BlackRock develop and implement long-term goals and respond to the competitive financial services landscape.
As Asia-Pacific head, she will be responsible for all business activities in the region, including Greater China, Japan, Australia, Singapore, India and Korea.
Laurence Fink, BlackRock’s chairman and CEO, said in the statement that Asia Pacific was one of BlackRock’s most critical priorities. Buckingham helped develop the firm's long-term growth strategy for China, he added.
Meanwhile, Stork will replace Patrick Olson. "We will be announcing Patrick's new role and a new head of corporate strategy before February 2019," a BlackRock spokeswoman told AsianInvestor.
Stork was named head of Asia-Pacific in 2014, following the promotion of Mark McCombe to global head of the institutional client business and chairman of BlackRock Alternative Investors.
BlackRock sourced $528 billion of its assets from Asia Pacific as of September 2017, while it had around $6.3 trillion in AUM globally as of March this year. The firm declined to provide a more recent breakdown of its Asian assets.