BlackRock Announces Strategic Alliance With Rothschild in Australia.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 21, 2002

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) today announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Rothschild Australia Asset Management Limited (RAAM) to offer global fixed income investment management services to institutional and individual investors in Australia.

Products offered will include balanced funds, bond funds and separate accounts.

BlackRock is among the largest investment managers in the world, with $238 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2002. The firm is widely recognized for its expertise in fixed income, with $140 billion managed in a variety of domestic and global bond mandates. Although BlackRock's clientele is predominantly U.S.-based, assets managed for international clients grew to $35 billion at March 31, 2002.

"BlackRock has always been committed to serving clients worldwide," said Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock. "And our global presence is growing rapidly, in part because we have chosen to affiliate with top tier local institutions, such as Nomura Asset Management in Japan and, now, with RAAM in Australia. We look forward to working together to serve the growing demand for global fixed income products in Australia."

RAAM, which was recently acquired by Westpac, is a recognized leader in providing specialized long-term investment solutions to its clients. The Australian operations have over A$10 billion funds under management. In order to deliver its clients a full range of world class investment products, RAAM has affiliated with a select number of managers, such as BlackRock, whose expertise complements RAAM's internal capabilities.

"BlackRock is a premier provider of global investment services, especially in global fixed income. It was the obvious choice to add to our suite of world class global partners, enabling us to offer Australian investors access to all sectors of the global fixed income markets," said Peter Martin, RAAM Chief Executive.

"We are very excited about working with RAAM," added Ralph L. Schlosstein, President of BlackRock. "We believe that through our collaboration we will be able to offer truly superior investment products and client service to investors in Australia."

About BlackRock. BlackRock is one of the largest publicly traded investment management firms in the United States with $238 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2002. BlackRock manages assets on behalf of institutional and individual investors worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, liquidity and alternative investment products, including the BlackRock Funds and BlackRock Provident Institutional Funds. In addition, BlackRock provides risk management advice and investment system services to a growing number of institutional investors under the BlackRock Solutions name. Clients are served from the Company's headquarters in New York City, as well as offices in Boston, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Tokyo and Wilmington. BlackRock is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC), and is majority-owned by PNC and by BlackRock employees.

Forward Looking Statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act with respect to BlackRock's outlook or expectations for future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "believe," "expect," "prospects," "opportunity," "optimistic," "pessimistic," "currently," "intention," "estimate," "position," "assume," "potential," "outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain," "sustain," and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or similar expressions. BlackRock cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and BlackRock assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements or historical performance: (1) the introduction, withdrawal, success and timing of business initiatives and strategies; (2) changes in political, economic or industry conditions, the interest rate environment or financial and capital markets, which could result in changes in demand for products or services or in the value of assets under management; (3) the investment performance of BlackRock's advised or sponsored investment products and separately managed accounts; (4) the impact of increased competition; (5) the impact of capital improvement projects; (6) the impact of future acquisitions; (7) the unfavorable resolution of legal proceedings; (8) the extent and timing of any share repurchases; (9) the impact, extent and timing of technological changes and the adequacy of intellectual property protection; (10) the impact of legislative and regulatory actions and reforms and regulatory, supervisory or enforcement actions of government agencies relating to BlackRock or PNC; and (11) terrorist activities, including the September 11 terrorist attacks, which may adversely affect the general economy, financial and capital markets, specific industries, and BlackRock.

BlackRock's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001 and BlackRock's subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, accessible on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov, discuss these factors in more detail and identify additional factors that can affect forward-looking statements.