MutualFundWire.com: A BlackRock Vet Will Take Over a $276.5B-AUM Firm

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Wednesday, February 8, 2023

A BlackRock Vet Will Take Over a $276.5B-AUM Firm

A 15-year BlackRock veteran is preparing to take over a 1,340-person, $276.5-billion-AUM (as of December 31) fund firm.

Zachary Todd "Zach" Buchwald
Russell Investments
Chairman- and CEO-Elect

Today, Todd Crockett (managing director at TA), Milton Berlinski (managing partner at Reverence Capital Partners), and Kate El-Hillow (president and chief investment officer of Russell Investments [profile]) confirm that Zach Buchwald (age 47) will join Russell on May 1 as chairman and CEO. (Reverence and TA are Russell's principal owners.) Buchwald most recently served as head of the U.S. and Canada institutional business at BlackRock [profile].

At BlackRock, Armando Senra is taking on Buchwald's old duties and then some, becoming head of Americas institutional business and head of BlackRock's Canada and Latin America business. He previously served as head of Americas ETF and index business. A BlackRock spokesperson declined to comment on the changes.

At Russell, Buchwald will succeed prior CEO Michelle Seitz, who left the firm in late 2022, as expected. Crockett describes Buchwald as "the ideal leader to further Russell Investments' legacy of innovation in asset management." Berlinski lauds Buchwald for bringing "proven leadership skills and deep industry experience." And El-Hillow describes Buchwald as "expertly prepared to further the firm's innovation success — from cutting-edge asset allocation and unparalleled money manager insights to some of the earliest forays into factor exposures, and a competitively recognized implementation capability."

"This is great news for Russell Investments' clients," El-Hillow states. "I look forward to working with Zach, especially benefiting from his stellar record of innovating client solutions to deliver on their desired investment outcomes."

Buchwald, for his part, praises Russell for its "totally unique multi-asset capabilities" and for bringing "the whole portfolio lens to deliver on its mission — improving the prospects of financial security."

"And it employs some of the smartest people in asset management," Buchwald states.

Buchwald joined BlackRock in 2008 after a decade with Morgan Stanley. He is an alumnus of Harvard College.

Senra joined MLIM in 2003, and he stayed on after it merged into BlackRock several years later. He held various international leadership roles before taking over the Americas ETF and index business in 2019.

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