When the New York Federal Reserve realised just over a week ago that it would need a manager to run the portfolio of mortgage-backed securities it was taking as collateral for a $30bn (â¬19bn) loan to Bear Stearns, US-listed asset manager BlackRock was the obvious choice.
By the admission of its rivals, BlackRock is one of fewer than half a dozen asset managers with the expertise and resources to take on such an assignment, alongside Pimco, Western Asset Managers and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
