BlackRock names Castille as chief retirement strategist

BlackRock Inc., the world's biggest money manager, named Chip Castille to a newly created position of chief retirement strategist. Mr. Castille will direct the growth of BlackRock's global retirement product platform, including its LifePath target date fund line and CoRI Retirement Indexes, and establish a research platform focused on the retirement market, the firm said Friday in an e-mailed statement. Anne Ackerley, a managing director, will replace Mr. Castille as the head of the U.S. and Canada defined-contribution business, which has $572 billion in assets under management. Both report to Robert Fairbairn, senior managing director and global head of BlackRock's iShares and retail businesses. Jim Badenhausen, also a managing director, will serve as chief marketing officer, in addition to his current job as global head of corporate communications. The $4.5 trillion money manager and its competitors are pushing for retirement assets as an area of growth.