BlackRock Inc. is an investment management corporation that operates through a large group of subsidiaries. BlackRock was founded in 1988 by Laurence Fink, who is currently the CEO, Robert Kapito, who is currently a co-president, Susan Wagner, the current COO, and five others who all have positions on the leadership board. There would be some confusion and disputes that would result in BlackRock changing its original Blackstone Financial Management name and splitting off part of the company to PNC. By 1998, however, BlackRock would absorb PNC’s equity, liquidity, and mutual fund businesses. The company would have its IPO just a year later at $14 a share. BlackRock expanded heavily and went through a number of acquisitions, merging with State Street Research & Management’s holding company and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, as well as a number of others. BlackRock Solutions, first launched in 2000, is the risk management division of BlackRock that operates the in house investment analytics and process engineering that works with every other investment process division of the company. Risk management is the foundation of the firm’s platform, keeping track of the firm’s investment portfolios and the portfolios of competitors, banks, pension funds, and insurers. In total, the platform monitors about 7% of the world’s total financial assets. BlackRock has 21 investment centers, 70 offices in 30 countries, and clients that span over 100 countries. BlackRock’s subsidiaries range in the 100s, providing the parent company with a significant presence in just about every financial market in the world. Some of the mutual funds that are available through the BlackRock group of companies include Global Allocation Funds, High Yield Bond Funds, Strategic Income Opportunities Fund, and Health Sciences Opportunities Fund. Its class of ETFs are traded under the iShares label and include ones such as iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology, S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth, North American Tech, and a large variety of others.