BlackRock announces the appointment of Andrew Ang, PhD, as a Managing Director and Head of the Factor-Based Strategies Group. In this role, Dr. Ang will lead BlackRock’s expansion in the emerging field of active investing via exposure to different risk premiums. BlackRock currently manages over $125 billion in client assets across a variety of factor-based products and strategies.
Dr. Ang joins BlackRock from Columbia Business School, where he has focused on understanding the nature of risk and return in asset prices, in particular the behavior of factor risk premiums within and across asset classes, over the past 15 years. His research spans bond markets, equities, asset management and portfolio allocation, and alternative investments. Most recently, Dr. Ang was Chair of the Finance and Economics Division and the Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Business at Columbia. Dr. Ang’s recent book “Asset Management: A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing” published by Oxford University Press in 2014 has been lauded by the investment community.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Ang has consulted for Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Norges Bank and the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust and other large institutional managers on factor investing strategies.
“Markets are constantly evolving. Historic sources of outperformance are so widely understood and incorporated by investors that their impact has diminished. To generate sustainable investment results, investors will need to use data and technology in factor-aware investment processes,” said Ken Kroner, Global Head of Multi-Asset Strategies for BlackRock. “Andrew Ang is a leading light in this arena, having applied his knowledge to some of the largest portfolios in the world. His combination of knowledge and experience make him ideal person to drive BlackRock’s development in factor-based strategies.”
“With BlackRock’s established systematic investment platform, along with its data analytics capabilities and superior talent, this is the perfect opportunity for factor investing to truly transform asset management,” said Dr. Ang. “BlackRock is a trusted advisor to some of the most sophisticated asset owners in the world. Having that credibility supporting the next generation of factor-based strategies will be critical in educating investors and clients about these important developments in portfolio construction and active asset management.”