Head of iShares Canada Exits BlackRock Amid Restructuring
- BlackRock's head of iShares in Canada has left the firm.
- The move comes amid a broader restructuring.
Helen Hayes, BlackRock Inc.'s (BLK) head of iShares in Canada, has left the firm, according to Bloomberg, which cited an internal memo.
The move comes amid a broader restructuring at BlackRock. The memo did not say that Hayes would be replaced, Bloomberg reported, adding that the memo said, Hayes “expressed her intention to pursue new opportunities outside of the firm.”
BlackRock declined to comment on or confirm the departure to etf.com.
BlackRock’s Restructuring
Tracey Grant will move on from her role as head of institutional client business in Canada to Philadelphia, where she will have a new position focused on strategic initiatives, Bloomberg reported. Sarah Butcher will take over Grant’s role, reporting to Marcia Moffat, country head of Canada, and Roque Calleja, head of institutional capital formation for the Americas.
Bloomberg also reported that Steven Leong will now serve as head of Canada product and markets and that the asset management firm is hiring a new position that will lead the wealth and asset manager sales channel for Canada.
The news comes after the departure of Mark Wiedman—a senior executive who was often thought to be the person most likely to succeed BlackRock founder Larry Fink—earlier this year.
Hayes’s Tenure
Hayes joined the world’s largest asset manager in 2021, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to working with BlackRock, she served in various roles at Toronto-headquartered CIBC Capital Markets, most recently as managing director and head of international equity sales and trading. She’s also previously worked at UBS.
Royal Bank of Canada Global Asset Management, which formed exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider RBC iShares with BlackRock in 2019, did not immediately respond to etf.com’s request for comment on Hayes’s departure.
New York-based BlackRock is the world's biggest ETF issuer with $4.3 trillion in more than 1,500 funds. In the U.S. it manages $3.1 trillion in 468 ETFs. Its largest fund is the $522.8 billion iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV).
