BlackRock hires JPMorgan’s Jessica Bulen for family office unit

BlackRock has hired Jessica Bulen from JPMorgan Chase to lead family capital, endowments, foundations and healthcare within its Americas institutional business. She will start in July after more than 20 years advising ultra-high-net-worth families and institutional clients across public and private markets.

Bulen’s role covers family capital, endowments, foundations and healthcare across the Americas. Her background includes work on portfolio construction, alternative allocations, public equities, fixed income, private markets and tax planning for ultra-wealthy and institutional clients.

Armando Senra, head of BlackRock’s Americas institutional business, said the firm wants to expand relationships with family offices and similar institutions that typically manage $500 million or more and increasingly operate like institutional investors. “Within the institutional framework, endowments, foundations, family offices is the fastest growing segment in the industry,” he said. “We want it to be the fastest growing segment for us, too.”

BlackRock reported $16 billion in family capital at the end of 2022 but declined to disclose current assets for the unit, noting some family office assets are included in its broader $1 trillion wealth management figure.

The firm has added private markets and alternatives capabilities over the past three years, acquiring HPS Investment Partners and Global Infrastructure Partners, adding specialized tax and customized index businesses, and promoting hedge funds and other alternative strategies. Senra said BlackRock built additional capabilities to present a more complete offering to sophisticated private clients and that the firm now has the scale to do so.

A BlackRock survey released last year found alternatives made up about 42% of family office portfolios and were expected to grow. Family offices have historically allocated to private equity and hedge funds and are increasing allocations to private credit and infrastructure, investments that require longer commitments, specialized underwriting and complex tax and risk management.

Bulen’s hire comes as asset managers expand advisory teams and product suites to give ultra-high-net-worth families, foundations and endowments more direct access to private deals, tax structures and cross-portfolio risk reporting.