’BlackRock is forming a new business unit to focus on its suite of digital wealth management technology products.
The Digital Wealth team will consolidate BlackRock’s varying products, including iRetire, FutureAdvisor, and Aladdin Risk for Wealth, with marketing and sales teams. In a statement, a BlackRock representative said the goal of the realignment is to improve the user experience of its technology products and improve relationships with the advisors who use it.
BlackRock COO Rob Goldstein and Global Chief Marketing Officer Frank Cooper will serve as co-chairs of the Digital Wealth unit, which is made up of four underlying groups: product, led by iRetire’s Chip Castille and FutureAdvisor’s Bo Lu; business development, led by Frank Porcelli; advisor engagement, led by Devon McConnell; and platform and sales technology, led by Scott Condron and Ben Elbaz. Mary-Catherine Lader will serve as Digital Wealth's chief operating officer.
The move is the latest in a number of technology updates coming from the New York City-based asset manager. BlackRock has recently partnered with a number of automated advice platforms, including robo advisors Betterment and Riskalyze’s white-labeled Autopilot, to include the firm’s investing strategies in automated portfolios. BlackRock also made a substantial investment in iCapital Networks, a digital alternative investments platform.
According to its latest earnings report, BlackRock is just $25 billion shy of having $6 trillion in assets under management for the first time.
