Rory Tobin parts company with iShares

Head of iShares International Rory Tobin has left the firm and Mike Latham has been appointed global head of iShares.

A BlackRock spokeswoman says Tobin stepped down "to pursue other opportunities."

She says BlackRock has decided to reorganise iShares, which has included creating the new global head position headed by Latham, who was previously head of the North America business.

iShares head of US sales Joe Linhares has been appointed head of iShares for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Nick Good has been appointed head of the Asia Pacific business and Daniel Gamba has been appointed to head up iShares in Latin America.

The spokeswoman says the position for head of North America has yet to be filled.

She says the reorganisation is intended to optimise ETF opportunities worldwide and to manage the iShares business on a unified global basis.

She adds: "There are many benefits to this - it allows for fluid resource allocation and to build upon our market leading position.

"It's better to leverage the ETF experience around the world, further develop the iShares brand as a world leader, increase services and sales across borders and expand our capital markets and product expertise across the entire iShares platform."