BlackRock Appoints Linda Gosden Robinson to Board of Directors; Declares Quarterly Dividend.

NEW YORK -- BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) today announced the appointment of Linda Gosden Robinson to its Board of Directors. This addition brings the total number of directors to thirteen, seven of whom are not affiliated with BlackRock.

"We are very pleased that Linda has agreed to join BlackRock's Board of Directors," commented Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock. "I am certain we will benefit from her unique insights and broad experience."

Ms. Robinson is Chairman of Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, LLC, a strategic communications firm she founded in 1986. She also serves as Vice Chairman of Young & Rubicam, the parent company of Robinson Lerer & Montgomery. For nearly twenty years, Ms. Robinson has provided strategic counsel to board members, CEOs and senior management of Fortune 500 and smaller companies on a broad range of business challenges. She works with companies spanning virtually every industry with a particular focus on companies in the financial services industry. Ms. Robinson is also a director of Revlon, Inc.; a director of Rainbow Media Enterprises, a subsidiary of Cablevision; a trustee and Vice Chair of New York University School of Medicine Foundation Board; and a trustee for New York University Hospitals Center.

Quarterly Dividend

The Company also announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share of common stock, payable September 22, 2004 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 2, 2004.

About BlackRock

BlackRock is one of the largest publicly traded investment management firms in the United States with approximately $310 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2004. BlackRock manages assets on behalf of institutional and individual investors worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, liquidity and alternative investment products. In addition, BlackRock offers investment system outsourcing, risk management, investment accounting and advisory services to a growing number of institutional investors, including banks, insurance companies, pension plan sponsors, foundations and corporations. 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 majority-owned by The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) and by BlackRock employees.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release, and other statements that BlackRock may make, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, with respect to BlackRock's outlook for full year and third quarter 2004 earnings, potential new business opportunities, liquidity asset levels and other future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "trend," "potential," "opportunity," "pipeline," "believe," "comfortable," "expect," "current," "intention," "estimate," "position," "assume," "outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain," "sustain," "seek," "pursue," "achieve," and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," "may" 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 and does not undertake to update forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements and future results could differ materially from historical performance.

In addition to factors previously disclosed in BlackRock's Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") reports and those identified elsewhere in this press release, forward-looking statements are subject, among others, to the following risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results of future events 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 or of BlackRock's investments; (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 and divestitures; (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; (11) terrorist activities and international hostilities, which may adversely affect the general economy, financial and capital markets, specific industries, and BlackRock; (12) the ability to attract and retain highly talented professionals; (13) fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, which may adversely affect the value of advisory fees earned by BlackRock; and (14) the impact of changes to tax legislation and, generally, the tax position of BlackRock.

BlackRock's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and BlackRock's subsequent reports filed with the SEC, accessible on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov and on BlackRock's website at http://www.blackrock.com, discuss these factors in more detail and identify additional factors that can affect forward-looking statements.