BlackRock names chief investment strategist for ETFs

BlackRock Inc., the world's biggest manager of exchange-traded funds, named Russ Koesterich to the new position of global chief investment strategist for its iShares unit. Koesterich will be responsible for providing investors in ETFs with trend analysis and insights on investment trends, the San Francisco-based unit of BlackRock said today in a statement. Koesterich will continue in his role leading investment strategy in BlackRock's scientific active equity unit, which uses mathematical models to pick securities. BlackRock acquired Barclays Global Investors on Dec. 1 to expand into exchange-traded funds and passive strategies. The firm manages about $3.45 trillion, including about $412 billion in exchange-traded funds, which track indexes and can be bought and sold by investors like stocks. BlackRock in July named Michael Latham the global head of iShares as part of a reorganization that united the U.S. and non-U.S. portions of the business.