McCombe’s capture to drive Asia growth, says BlackRock

BlackRock has hired HSBC veteran Mark McCombe to replace Rohit Bhagat as Asia-Pacific chairman “to accelerate the growth of its business, brand and reputation in the region”. The world’s largest asset manager has seen its regional assets under management drop this year, from $391 billion at the start of 2011 – 11.3% of its global AUM – to $372.8 billion at June 30. Asked when McCombe will be starting, a BlackRock spokeswoman replies only: “No later than January 2012.” He will ta…