Vanguard Hires Former BlackRock iShares Exec Salim Ramji as CEO
He joined BlackRock over a decade ago and under his tenure, the asset management firm launched the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund for retail investors
BlackRock’s former global head of iShares and index investments, Salim Ramji, is joining Vanguard as its new CEO and board of directors from July 8.
In an announcement, Vanguard said Ramji will take over from the current CEO Tim Buckley, who announced he would retire and step down from the firm in February this year.
Ramji departed from his position at BlackRock in January 2024 where he was responsible for managing the majority of the firm’s client assets and overseeing the iShares platform. He joined BlackRock over a decade ago and under his tenure, the asset management firm launched the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund for retail investors.
Vanguard is the second largest asset management firm after BlackRock.
Before joining BlackRock Ramji held the position of senior partner at McKinsey and was responsible for the firm’s asset and wealth management practice. Ramji started his career as a lawyer at Clifford Chance in London and Hong Kong.
“He [Ramji] cares about advancing the interests of individual investors, has a strong fiduciary ethos, and thinks strategically about solutions,” said Buckley, in a press release. “Salim understands our organization’s deep sense of purpose and commitment to put clients first, which is a hallmark of Vanguard’s leadership team and culture,” added Buckley.
“The current investor landscape is changing, and that presents opportunities for Vanguard to further its mission of giving people the best chance for investment success, which is more relevant today than at any time in the firm’s five-decade history,” said Ramji.
