The ex-president of BlackRock who was involved in one of the biggest asset management deals of the last 10 years - the firm's merger with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers - is on the acquisition trail again. This time with his new firm Evercore Partners.

Ralph Schlosstein, who co-founded BlackRock in 1992 and served as its president before leaving last year, joined financial services boutique Evercore in May. Speaking in New York yesterday on the second day of the Barclays Capital Global Financial Services Conference, he confirmed that Evercore was looking at either forging partnerships or making acquisitions in asset management.