BlackRock Hires Steven D. Berkley within BlackRock Solutions

    Business Editors

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2005--BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) today announced that Steven D. Berkley has joined the firm as a Managing Director within BlackRock Solutions(R). BlackRock Solutions offers a broad range of advice, tools and services, from risk analytics to highly sophisticated enterprise investment systems, designed to streamline the investment management process. Mr. Berkley will focus on building and expanding BlackRock Solutions' client relationships.
    Mr. Berkley joins BlackRock from Lehman Brothers where he was Managing Director, global head of fixed income indices. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Fixed Income Analysts Society since 2002, and is currently its Vice President.
    "Steve's skills and experience make him a terrific addition to our team," said Charles Hallac, Managing Director and head of BlackRock Solutions. "He'll play an important role in helping us to deliver the full capabilities of BlackRock Solutions to our clients."

    About BlackRock

    BlackRock is one of the largest publicly traded investment management firms in the United States with approximately $342 billion of assets under management at December 31, 2004. BlackRock manages assets on behalf of institutional and individual investors worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, liquidity and alternative investment products. In addition, BlackRock provides risk management, investment system outsourcing and financial advisory services to a growing number of institutional investors. Clients are served from the Company's headquarters in New York City, as well as offices in Boston, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Morristown, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Wilmington. BlackRock is majority owned by The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and by BlackRock employees. For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.blackrock.com.

--30--ML/ny*

CONTACT: BlackRock, Inc. Kathleen Baum, 212-810-5429 or Brian Beades, 212-810-5596

KEYWORD: NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING MANAGEMENT CHANGES SOURCE: BlackRock, Inc.

Copyright Business Wire 2005