BlackRock elevates local sales head

Jason Collins has been promoted to deputy head of BlackRock Australasia reporting to Andrew Landman the Australasian head of the US10 trillion asset manager.

Collins, who currently runs BlackRock's client business in Australasia will work with Landman on strategic initiatives and in-country priorities.

As part of his expanded role, but importantly provide support on strategic partnerships including the delivery of tailored whole portfolio solutions to key strategic clients in the Asia Pacific region.

Collins will continue to serve as a member of the Australian board and have high-level responsibility for sales and client servicing.

Before his nearly nine years at BlackRock, Collins worked at BT Financial Group and Deutsche.

Meanwhile, the world's largest asset manager also announced the appointment of Hiroyuki Shimizu as institutional head for Asia Pacific.

Shimizu will also assume the role of president of BlackRock Japan, subject to local board approval.

He will join the firm by June.

Previously, Shimizu worked at Morgan Stanley Investment Management where he was more recently head of Japan and Korea as well as global co-head of private credit and equity distribution.

Earlier, he was chief executive of KKR Capital Markets Japan, leading its fundraising and financing efforts.

Before that, Shimizu spent 15 years at Goldman Sachs in Japan. Based in Hong Kong, Shimizu will be responsible for bringing a full range of solutions to institutional clients' portfolios.

He will partner with country leadership, investment, and other business teams to oversee product and client distribution across all institutional investors. As president of BlackRock Japan, Shimizu will support chief executive Hiroyuki Arita in serving the firm's Japan client business.

BlackRock's chair and head of Asia Pacific Rachel Lord noted the robust asset growth in the region, plus rising demand from institutions for increasingly sophisticated whole portfolio solutions that will help them address their risks and opportunities.

"Hiroyuki brings with him a wealth of institutional client management experience, along with a thorough understanding of local markets and a strong track record in the alternatives space. This will greatly benefit our clients while helping us realise our growth ambitions in APAC," she said.