Business Operations

We achieve operational excellence by ensuring consistency and working efficiently.

With operations all over the world and a range of investment products and services, BlackRock is one of the most complex financial services organizations serving clients today. In order to achieve operational excellence, BlackRock has established a Business Operations Group to ensure our operations are consistent and efficient across investment products, client channels and regions.

Business Operations is composed of three groups:

• Aladdin Portfolio Services Group  -- responsible for all information required for the investment management process
• Operations & Administration -- provides operational support to BlackRock’s portfolio management teams and global client groups and manages day-to-day relationships with external service providers and counterparties for the retail and institutional businesses
• Provider Strategy -- responsible for ensuring the firm properly leverages counter-party relationships effectively.

Learn where you might fit by reading the detailed descriptions below. The Business Operations group hires undergraduates just entering the workforce as well as professionals with industry experience. Industry professionals come from a wide range of backgrounds.

Aladdin Portfolio Services Group (APSG)

The Aladdin Portfolio Services Group (APSG) is a centralized process group dedicated to ensuring the integrity of information maintained and produced in Aladdin. The group’s mission is to support the firm’s internal and external clients with the goal of ensuring all appropriate data is timely and accurate to support the investment management process. APSG focuses on portfolio set-up, inclusive of IMA negotiations and order processing; accurate and timely security modeling; cash and asset reconciliations; portfolio compliance; net asset value (NAV) calculation/performance measurement; and client reporting.

The group comprises three key channels: Client Services, Investment Services and Portfolio Services. Within each channel (described below), there are sub-categories that have specialized functions.

• Client Services Channel
• • Portfolio On-Boarding and Control, a central team responsible for providing direction and holistic understanding of all portfolios globally, certifying readiness for trading. Initial point of contact for the business as it relates to new business, portfolio modifications and terminations, as well as the lead liaison to coordinate the operational setup with the custodian banks. The team maintains the client portfolio attribute data in the account master.
  • AUM & Institutional Administration is responsible for calculating BlackRock’s global AUM by working with key operating areas of the firm, in addition to supporting the Fixed Income Institutional Administration team in servicing our clients.
  • Client Services is responsible for managing the client order process related to automated client directed subscriptions/redemptions, managing the client contracting process for specific client types and has change management responsibilities related to how audit/regulatory requirements impact the business.
  • Client Reporting is responsible for producing customized client and custodian reporting, as well as managing client mailings and disclosures.
• Investment Services Channel
• • Investment Services is responsible for ensuring that investment information delivered to our internal and external clients through the Aladdin platform is accurate, timely and comprehensive. Investment Services is committed to building and maintaining efficient, scalable and resilient production processes that provide our clients with high quality investment (terms and conditions, pricing and analytics) and portfolio data (risk, performance, attribution and NAVs), which is a critical factor in the investment decision making process.
• Portfolio Services Channel
• • Portfolio Compliance is responsible for implementing controls and processes to ensure portfolios are compliant with all applicable regulatory and client-issued guidelines as they relate to trading and investments. This includes core Aladdin pre- and post-trade compliance and non-Aladdin trading compliance, mutual fund monitoring and reporting, and global syndicate offering review. The team produces daily portfolio level issues and violations for escalation and resolution.
  • Cash and Reconciliations is responsible for completing portfolio transaction level cash/asset reconciliations to external record-keepers (custodian bank, transfer agent, etc) and provides direct support to the end-users of the data.
  • Institutional Admin & Performance performs NAV calculations, performance, reporting and reconciliations with trustees and custodians and is responsible for the Global Institutional Separate Accounts covering Fixed Income, Equity and Fiduciary.
    

Operations & Administration (O&A)

The Operations & Administration (O&A) group handles investment operations and administration, serves the Portfolio Management and Global Client groups and manages day-to-day relationships with external service providers and counterparties for both the retail and institutional businesses.

The O&A functional groups include Investment Operations, Product and Channel Services, Global Fund Administration, Shareholder Services, Pension Administration and Business Finance and Administration.

• Investment Operations
• • The Investment Operations group is responsible for trading operations and derivatives operations spanning all products and businesses at BlackRock.
  • Trading Operations is responsible for all transaction processing and associated support including trade confirmation, trade and payment settlement, fail and payment difference resolution, corporate actions, loan products and compensation claims.
  • Derivatives Operations is responsible for collateral management, derivative confirmations, settlement of derivatives payments, management of legal agreements and oversight of counterparty exposure for all derivatives. This team will coordinate internally with portfolio teams and trading desks and externally with all street side counterparties and prime brokers to achieve a consistent operating model with strong controls.
    
• Product and Channel Services
• • New Product Services is responsible for new product coordination across our organization in partnership with the Global Client Group (GCG).
  • Investor and Channel Services provides dynamic support to PortfolioManagement and GCG to ensure effective coordination across the operating infrastructure to support the investment process.
    
• Global Fund Administration
• • The Global Fund Administration team manages the accounting infrastructure and operating control environment for BlackRock's global commingled vehicles (i.e., mutual funds, alternatives). The team consists of accounting and administrative professionals who work closely with the fund’s management to oversee the fiduciary governance of our commingled vehicles.
  • Shareholder, Transfer Agent and Distribution Services
  • The Shareholder, Transfer Agent and Distribution Services group is responsible for global oversight of the Transfer Agents for the open-end, closed-end and alternatives products, Dealer Servicing, Mutual Fund Dealing and Distribution for the US mutual funds and the Shareholder Service Centers. This team provides support to the Global Client Group with the launching of new products, mergers, proxies and servicing the distributors and shareholders of our funds. Some of the key functions of this group include distributor and vendor oversight, commission monitoring, trade reconciliation, large trade monitoring, broker-dealer support and input for board meetings.
    
• Pension Administration
• • The Pension Administration group is responsible for Defined Contribution schemes, bundled services and third-party administration. This rapidly growing business segment is a key component of our institutional strategy in Europe.

Business Finance & Administration (BFA)

• Business Finance & Administration is responsible for management information systems, resource management, strategic planning and operational risk and audit.

Provider Strategy

• Provider Strategy is responsible for working across many parts of the firm to ensure we are properly leveraging our counter-party relationships effectively, maximizing the benefits of our scale in the industry. The firm has strategic relationships with several key providers integral to our business operations (for example, fund accounting, custody and trade processing).
• These relationships are long term and complex, and they are financially material to the firm’s overall performance and include most of the significant Service Providers in the industry. Outsourced functions include: trade operations, corporate actions, reconciliations, cash projections, fund accounting, custody, transfer agency, directed lending services, custom processes, shadow accounting of client-appointed administrators, coordination and reconciliations with client-appointed custodians and prime brokerage.

BlackRock is proud to be an E-Verify & Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer – M/F/D/V.  We are committed to equal employment opportunity to all applicants and existing employees, regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity/expression), sexual orientation, age, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religion, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

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