BlackRock’s Retirement Head Ackerley Moving to Adviser Role

In a restructuring of the world’s largest asset management firm, Anne Ackerley, head of retirement at BlackRock Inc., is moving into a senior adviser role in July even as the firm is in the midst of a public campaign to expand retirement plan savings and services, a spokesperson confirmed.

The firm’s restructuring began in January  by shifting its global client focus toward “client needs, not product structure” with the formation of its Global Product Solutions unit, according to the spokesperson. That move has seen iShares become more deeply embedded into BlackRock solutions, which will also start to further incorporate retirement-related solutions.

Ackerley’s position will not be filled, but Robert Crothers, managing director and head of product and strategy for the retirement group, will take over the U.S. retirement unit in an expanded role, the spokesperson confirmed. Crothers reports to Jessica Tan, a managing director and head of Americas for global product solutions.

In her new position, Ackerley will continue to advise BlackRock on retirement-related areas and oversee board service and other responsibilities.

Ackerley has been the public face of many of BlackRock’s retirement-focused investment products and solutions since taking the role five years ago. Her most recent project, an in-plan annuity vehicle called LifePath Paycheck, has been a major focus area for the firm, with a handful of plan sponsors already using the product and Larry Fink citing it as a major innovation in his annual letter.

“Anne has been an industry leader and a highly influential voice in the retirement industry,” Kevin Crain, a senior adviser at the Milken Institute and a non-resident scholar at the Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives said via email. “With her leadership, Blackrock has led progress in the retirement industry on critical issues—target date investing, retirement income solutions, equality in retirement savings, and improving longevity.”

Fink called out the LifePath Paycheck in his annual letter as a major advancement in retirement savings—writing that it may “one day be the default retirement investment strategy.”

In a LinkedIn post when the product went live earlier this year, Ackerley wrote: “I’m so proud of everyone who helped bring this game-changing solution to life. And it’s not just our team at BlackRock. To get LifePath Paycheck off the ground, clients needed to believe in us, recordkeepers needed to build with us, and insurers needed to innovate alongside us. That’s the most important lesson for me over the last six years: when we come together as an industry, we can do big things. I truly believe the new retirement is here. And I’m proud to say we’re making it happen – together.”

Ackerley has been with BlackRock for 25 years and worked for more than 30 years in financial services. She held numerous leadership positions at the firm, including head of the defined contribution business.

Pensions & Investments first reported the news of Ackerley’s move, which comes as other leadership changes are also happening at the firm.

Late Tuesday, Vanguard announced that BlackRock’s former head of iShares, Salim Ramji, will be the asset manager’s new CEO as Tim Buckley steps down. Vanguard noted in the announcement Ramji’s experience in “evolving the iShares platform to provide an even broader set of innovate low-cost products for investors globally.”