BlackRock’s Salim Ramji, Global Head of iShares & Index Investments — Serving 100 Million Investors
Miguel Armaza sits down with Salim Ramji, BlackRock Senior Managing Director and Global Head of iShares and Index Investments and a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee.
Founded in 1988, BlackRock is a global investment management firm and the world’s largest asset manager, with almost $9 trillion dollars in AUM — and iShares is one of the largest ETF providers with almost $3 trillion dollars in AUM.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Salim’s exciting career. From microfinance in the mountains of Pakistan to the top of Wall Street in New York City. Fresh out of college, Salim started out in microfinance in the north of Pakistan, where he worked on giving out small loans to emerging women’s enterprises or small farmers. He then went on to become a corporate lawyer, a consultant at McKinsey, and eventually joined BlackRock.
- The power of ETFs and Index Investing and why he considers Indexing to be one of the original Fintech innovations. Index Investing was started 50 years ago by Wells Fargo as a groundbreaking financial technology. Half a century later Index and ETF investing represent 10% of the total pool of stocks and bonds of the asset management industry, with BlackRock alone managing almost $3 trillion in ETFs.
“The ETF aspect… at its core is also a technology because what it’s really doing is taking underlying securities, putting them into a bundle, making it really transparent, making it really accessible, and making it really available to millions and millions of people… And when you look across the whole index investing capabilities of BlackRock, it’s helping over 100 million people all around the world.”
- The rise of robo-advisors. Salim is generally excited for the rise of robo-advisors and BlackRock works with both established and up-and-coming investment firms. However, he believes it’s very important for asset managers to implement guardrails to help offer investment products and capabilities that are good for the long-term of investor portfolios.
“Our essential focus is to create investment products and investment capabilities that are really good for the long term … And I think sometimes when you completely eliminate all barriers or other guardrails … that can sometimes lead to unintended consequences.
But I think that that’s natural with any innovation. I think the general trend line, which has been giving more investors access to investments has been a really good one all around the world.”
- The rapid acceleration of ESG, Environmental, Social, and Governance ETFs and why Blackrock considers climate risks are investment risks that should be taken very seriously. Three years ago BlackRock was managing about 20 ETFs for a total of around $7 billion AUM with an ESG focus, but after realizing there was a need for more ESG-driven investment options, they’ve expanded the lineup of ETFs and Index Funds to over 150 products managing more than $140 billion. Most notably, by the end of the decade, BlackRock expects to be managing a trillion dollars in sustainable investments.
“Across our investment and research teams, we really started to understand climate risks as investment risks, and we started to understand the magnitude of the changes that could have to clients’ long-term portfolios, if they were exposed to risks that they didn’t understand…. And we started speaking with a louder voice about that. And what we found is that many of our clients all around the world had been yearning for investment firms and for other firms to be able to help them make the transition.”
- Leadership lessons and the power of leading through influence, collaboration, and forging alliances… And a lot more!
Full interview → Spotify | Soundcloud | Apple
Salim Ramji
Salim Ramji, Senior Managing Director, is Global Head of iShares and Index Investments for BlackRock and a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee.
Prior to his appointment to lead the ETF and Index Investments business in 2019, Mr. Ramji was Head of BlackRock’s U.S. Wealth Advisory business where he was responsible for leading BlackRock’s relationships with wealth management firms and platforms, for distributing BlackRock’s alpha-seeking and iShares investment capabilities and for the adoption of BlackRock’s portfolio construction and digital wealth technologies to financial advisors.
Mr. Ramji joined BlackRock in 2014, serving initially as the Global Head of Corporate Strategy.
Before joining BlackRock, he was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company where he led the Asset & Wealth Management practice areas. He started his career as a corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions lawyer in London and Hong Kong.
Mr. Ramji earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and politics from University of Toronto, a law degree from Cambridge University and is a CFA charter holder. He is a trustee of Graham Windham, a New York-based child care agency.
About iShares
iShares unlocks opportunity across markets to meet the evolving needs of investors. With more than twenty years of experience, a global line-up of 900+ exchange traded funds (ETFs) and $2.81 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2021, iShares continues to drive progress for the financial industry. iShares funds are powered by the expert portfolio and risk management of BlackRock.
About BlackRock
BlackRock’s purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading provider of financial technology, we help millions of people build savings that serve them throughout their lives by making investing easier and more affordable. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/corporate | Twitter: @blackrock
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Miguel Armaza is Co-Host of the Wharton Fintech Podcast and Co-Founder of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas.
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