US investment manager BlackRock has appointed Rachel Lord as the chair and head of BlackRock Asia-Pacific. Lord, who will be based in Hong Kong, most recently ran BlackRock’s business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), driving regional business transformation over the past three years.
Prior to assuming leadership of the firm’s EMEA region in 2017, Lord served as EMEA head of iShares and head of global clients, ETF and index investments. She joined BlackRock in 2013 from Citigroup, where she served as global head of corporate equity derivatives, following a 13-year tenure at Morgan Stanley.
Her Asia-Pacific experience began with ANZ Investment Bank in London helping clients in Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan to access international financing for their industrial growth. She then moved to Hong Kong where she built a number of Asian equities businesses for Morgan Stanley. She later joined Citigroup where she led the growth of global strategic equity solutions, overseeing its launch in Asia in 2010.
“The appointment underscores our commitment to this fast-growing region as a top strategic priority for BlackRock,” says Mark Wiedman, BlackRock’s head of international and corporate strategy. “Lord has piloted growth in assets and revenue in a complex EMEA region undergoing economic and regulatory shifts, while taking BlackRock deeper into local markets.”
