BlackRock bolsters sustainable investing team; names South-east Asia wealth head

ASSET manager BlackRock has made several appointments to boost its South-east Asia wealth business while shuffling the leadership for BlackRock Sustainable Investing (BSI), its sustainable investment strategies platform.

In a press statement on Monday (Aug 29), BlackRock named Geir Espeskog its new head of wealth for South-east Asia, effective early-October. Espeskog, who was most recently the co-head of BSI for Asia-Pacific (Apac), will continue to be based in Singapore.

BlackRock has also appointed Elaine Wu as managing director, Apac head of research for BSI. Based in Hong Kong, she reports to Emily Woodland, who will now assume full leadership of BSI Apac.

In her newly-created role, Wu will drive the research agenda for BSI Apac and oversee the firm’s sustainability research across the region. She has more than 14 years of experience in equity research in Apac, BlackRock noted.

Wu was most recently the head of Asia ex-Japan of ESG and utilities equity research at JPMorgan, where she spearheaded ESG (environmental, social and governance) research for the firm.

Prior to BSI Apac, Espeskog was head of BlackRock’s iShares business in both EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Apac after first joining in 2010.

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“Given the tremendous growth opportunities in private banking and the broader wealth space, Geir will help advance the firm’s ambitions to strengthen Apac as a core pillar for long-term growth,” BlackRock said.