BlackRock Elects Four to Board of Directors.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2003

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) today announced the election of four new directors to its Board of Directors: William Albertini, David Komansky, William Demchak and William Mutterperl.

The elections of Messrs. Albertini, Demchak and Mutterperl are effective immediately. Mr. Komansky's election is effective as of May 1, 2003. These additions bring the total number of directors to twelve, six of whom are not affiliated with BlackRock.

"We welcome all of our new Board members and look forward to the contributions we know that they will each make to BlackRock's future endeavors," commented Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock. "Bill Albertini has been a valued member of our Funds Board, and his experience and expertise will be equally valuable to our corporate Board. David Komansky brings tremendous operating experience and global perspective that will be of enormous benefit as BlackRock continues to expand globally. Bill Demchak and Bill Muttterperl will provide valuable insight and guidance on the basis of their prior experiences, as well as their current roles within PNC."

Mr. Albertini retired in 1999 after a 32-year career with Bell Atlantic and its predecessor organizations, the Bell System and AT&T. At the time of his retirement, Mr. Albertini was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Bell Atlantic Global Wireless, Inc. He currently is a member of the Boards of Directors of Triumph Group Incorporated and the Midwest Independent Transmission Service Operator, and serves as a trustee of the Weller Foundation and as President of the Eagles Mere Foundation. Mr. Albertini was formerly a member of the Board of Trustees of the BlackRock Funds.

Mr. Komansky is currently Chairman of Merrill Lynch, a position from which he will retire on April 28, 2003. During his 34-year tenure at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Komansky served in various positions, including regional sales management, President & CEO of Merrill Lynch Realty/Fine Homes International, Director of National Sales in the U.S. Private Client Group, Executive Vice President of the Debt and Equity Market Groups, President & Chief Operating Officer and Chairman & Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Komansky serves on the Boards of Directors of Schering-Plough Corporation, the New York Stock Exchange (Vice Chairman) and WPP Group. Among his many civic and charitable activities, he serves on the boards of the New York Presbyterian Hospital and the American Museum of Natural History.

Messrs. Demchak and Mutterperl fill vacancies resulting from resignations that occurred in late-2002. Mr. Demchak is Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Prior to joining PNC in September 2002, Mr. Demchak was with JP Morgan Chase, most recently as Global Head of Structured Finance and Credit Portfolio. Mr. Mutterperl joined PNC in November 2002 as Vice Chairman. Prior to joining PNC, Mr. Mutterperl was a partner of Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels in Boston and, before that, served as Executive Director to the Independent Oversight Board for Arthur Anderson headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volker. From 1985 through 2001, he was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of FleetBoston Financial Corp. Mr. Mutterperl also serves as President of The Boston Bar Foundation and a member of the Board of the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston.

About BlackRock.

BlackRock is one of the largest publicly traded investment management firms in the United States with $273 billion of assets under management as of December 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. In addition, BlackRock provides risk management 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 majority-owned by The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: 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 future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "trend," "opportunity," "pipeline," "believe," "comfortable," "expect," "current," "intention," "estimate," "position," "assume," "potential," "outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain," "sustain," "seek," "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 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 (the SEC") reports and those identified elsewhere in this report, 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; (11) terrorist activities, which may adversely affect the general economy, financial and capital markets, specific industries, and BlackRock; and (12) the ability to attract and retain highly talented professionals.

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, identify additional factors that can affect forward-looking statements.