Obrist to relocate lead iShares Asia

Christian Obrist has been promoted to head iShares distribution for Asia excluding Japan. He'll return to Hong Kong, where he spent nearly four years with the organisation's ETF and index distribution options.

BlackRock has announced that it is combining its local client business and iShares teams to better serve clients and meet whole portfolio needs. James Kingston has become the new head of iShares Australasia and Chantal Giles has become head of iShares Wealth Australasia.

"As we evolve our business to reflect changing market dynamics and client needs, we are pleased to be able to promote from within and expand the roles of our senior leaders to deliver bespoke solutions to our clients," said BlackRock head of client business for Australasia Jason Collins. "Our ability to work with clients across a range of investment types - index, active, multi-asset and alternatives - and deliver this via various structures, gives BlackRock a unique ability to partner with firms as they seek to curate and provide leading investment options to their end clients."

Rimmo Jolly, head of iShares Asia Pacific, said, "It's exciting to see clients across the region increasingly turning to BlackRock to be their partner of choice for iShares ETFs as portfolio building blocks and whole portfolio solutions.

"We are focused on evolving the delivery of our iShares platform to better meet client needs and look forward to engaging more deeply with clients in Australia."

Obrist has spent nearly nine years with BlackRock in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Australia. He previously held institutional sales roles with JPMorgan Chase in Switzerland and fixed income derivatives with UBS.