{"title":"BlackRock Family Office Hire: What Jessica Bulen's Move Means for Asia","html":"

Why Does BlackRock Hiring Jessica Bulen Matter for Family Office Principals in Asia?

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager with approximately US$11.6 trillion in assets under management, has appointed Jessica Bulen — a senior executive from JPMorgan Chase — to lead its dedicated family office business globally. The move is not a routine personnel change. It signals that the world's most powerful capital allocator is structuring a serious, institutionalised push into a client segment that has historically been served by private banks and boutique advisors. For principals of single-family offices and multi-family offices across Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai, this development redraws the competitive map of who is competing for their mandates — and how.

If you are a principal or CIO at a regional family office, the relevance is direct. BlackRock is not entering the family office space to offer incremental services — it is building a dedicated coverage model, led by a banker with deep experience structuring complex, multi-generational wealth relationships at JPMorgan's private bank. The implication is that global asset managers are now competing aggressively with private banks for the primary relationship with ultra-high-net-worth families. Understanding what this means for your existing service providers, your fee structures, and your access to alternatives is a strategic priority, not a background development.

Jessica Bulen is a senior executive who spent years at JPMorgan Chase building and managing relationships with family offices, where she developed expertise in portfolio construction, governance advisory, and alternatives access. Her appointment at BlackRock is a deliberate signal: the firm is not simply offering products to family offices, it is building a relationship-led coverage model that mirrors what private banks have long provided. This is the clearest sign yet that the family office segment — estimated by Preqin to represent over US$6 trillion in investable assets globally — has become a primary battleground for institutional asset managers.

How Does BlackRock's Family Office Strategy Work, and What Is It Offering?

BlackRock's family office strategy is a dedicated coverage model that provides ultra-high-net-worth families and their offices with direct access to the firm's full investment platform — spanning public markets, private credit, infrastructure, real assets, and multi-alternative solutions. Unlike a standard institutional sales relationship, the family office model is designed to be consultative, with coverage professionals acting as strategic partners rather than product distributors. Bulen's mandate is to build and scale this model globally, with particular emphasis on regions where family office formation has accelerated sharply.

What distinguishes BlackRock's offering from a private bank is the depth of its alternatives platform. The firm's acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners in 2024 for approximately US$12.5 billion gave it one of the world's largest infrastructure investment franchises, with over US$100 billion in infrastructure AUM. Its private credit platform, eFront data infrastructure, and the Aladdin risk system give family offices access to institutional-grade tools and deal flow that most private banks cannot replicate. For family offices that have been building out direct investment and co-investment capabilities, BlackRock's platform represents a genuinely differentiated alternative to the traditional private bank model.

"The world's largest asset manager is not entering the family office space to offer incremental services — it is building a dedicated coverage model that directly challenges the primacy of private banks in the ultra-high-net-worth relationship."

The timing is deliberate. According to data from the Global Family Office Report published by UBS and Campden Research, the number of family offices globally has grown by more than 38 percent over the past decade, with Asia-Pacific accounting for a disproportionate share of new formations. Singapore alone has seen its family office count rise from approximately 400 in 2020 to over 1,100 by 2023, according to figures cited by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Hong Kong's family office, supported by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the government's dedicated FamilyOfficeHK initiative, has similarly expanded. BlackRock is positioning itself to capture a significant share of this growth before the market consolidates around a small number of dominant institutional relationships.

What Does This Mean for Singapore VCC and Hong Kong OFC Structures Used by Family Offices?

The Variable Capital Company (VCC) is a Singapore-domiciled fund structure introduced by MAS in 2020, specifically designed to serve the needs of family offices and fund managers seeking a flexible, tax-efficient vehicle for multi-asset portfolios. The VCC allows sub-funds, variable capital redemptions, and a wide range of asset classes — making it particularly suitable for family offices that want to consolidate holdings across public equities, private markets, real estate, and alternatives under a single regulated umbrella. As of 2024, over 1,000 VCCs had been incorporated in Singapore, reflecting the structure's rapid adoption by both local and international family offices.

The Open-ended Fund Company (OFC) is Hong Kong's equivalent structure, regulated by the SFC, and similarly designed to provide a flexible, tax-transparent vehicle for professional investors. The OFC has seen growing adoption among family offices domiciled in Hong Kong, particularly those with exposure to Greater China private markets and regional real assets. Both the VCC and OFC are structures that BlackRock's family office team will need to engage with directly — either as a service provider, a co-investor, or a platform partner — as it builds its Asia-Pacific coverage model. Family offices using these structures should expect increased outreach from BlackRock's newly organised team as it maps the regional landscape.

In Dubai, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has emerged as a third major hub for Asia-linked family offices, particularly those with principals from South Asia, the Middle East, and increasingly Southeast Asia. The DIFC Family Arrangements Regulations, introduced in 2023, provide a dedicated legal framework for family office governance, succession planning, and trust structures. BlackRock already has a significant DIFC presence, and Bulen's appointment is likely to accelerate the firm's engagement with the growing number of family offices using DIFC as a booking and governance centre. The convergence of Singapore VCC, Hong Kong OFC, and DIFC structures in a single family's portfolio is increasingly common — and BlackRock's global platform is one of the few that can serve all three simultaneously.

How Should Asia-Pacific Family Office Principals Respond to This Development?

Asia-Pacific family office principals should treat BlackRock's move as a prompt to reassess their current institutional relationships and the value they are receiving from existing service providers. The entry of a firm of BlackRock's scale into the dedicated family office coverage model raises the bar for what principals should expect in terms of investment access, reporting quality, governance advisory, and alternatives deal flow. Principals who have relied primarily on private banks for investment management and alternatives access should now benchmark those relationships against what a dedicated institutional manager can offer.

The following strategic considerations are relevant for principals reviewing their positioning:

1. Alternatives access: BlackRock's infrastructure, private credit, and real assets platforms — significantly expanded through the Global Infrastructure Partners acquisition — offer co-investment and direct deal access that most private banks cannot match. Principals with target alternatives allocations above 20 percent of AUM should evaluate whether their current providers are delivering institutional-quality deal flow.
2. Fee transparency: Institutional asset managers typically offer cleaner fee structures than private banks, which often embed distribution fees and retrocessions. Principals should request a full fee audit from existing providers in light of new competitive options.
3. Governance and reporting: BlackRock's Aladdin platform provides institutional-grade risk aggregation and reporting. Family offices managing complex, multi-jurisdictional portfolios should assess whether their current reporting infrastructure meets the standard required for informed principal decision-making.
4. Relationship leverage: The arrival of a new, well-resourced competitor creates negotiating leverage with existing private bank relationships. Principals should use this moment to renegotiate terms, access, and service levels.
5. Regulatory alignment: As MAS, the SFC, and DIFC continue to refine family office regulations — including MAS's Section 13O and 13U incentive schemes — principals should ensure their institutional partners have dedicated regulatory expertise in each jurisdiction, not just a generic compliance function.

What Should Family Offices Watch in the Next 12 Months?

The next twelve months will be critical in determining how aggressively BlackRock moves to build out its Asia-Pacific family office coverage. Bulen's appointment is the first public signal, but the hiring of regional coverage professionals in Singapore and Hong Kong is the development to watch. If BlackRock replicates the model it has used in the United States — embedding senior professionals with deep family office relationships into key markets — it will move quickly from a product provider to a primary relationship holder for a meaningful number of regional family offices.

Principals should also watch for developments in the MAS Section 13O and 13U incentive frameworks, which govern tax exemptions for family office vehicles in Singapore. Any changes to minimum AUM thresholds — currently set at S$10 million for 13O and S$50 million for 13U — or to local investment requirements will affect the economics of Singapore-domiciled structures and potentially shift flows toward Hong Kong OFC or DIFC alternatives. The intersection of BlackRock's global platform and Singapore's regulatory incentive structure is where the most significant near-term opportunity for regional family offices lies.

The SFC's ongoing development of the Hong Kong family office framework, and DIFC's continued refinement of its Family Arrangements Regulations, will also shape where new family office formations occur and which institutional managers are best positioned to serve them. BlackRock's appointment of a dedicated global family office leader suggests the firm is already planning for a multi-jurisdictional coverage model that spans all three major hubs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Variable Capital Company (VCC) and why do family offices use it?

A Variable Capital Company (VCC) is a Singapore-domiciled corporate fund structure introduced by MAS in 2020. It allows variable capital, multiple sub-funds under a single legal entity, and broad asset class flexibility. Family offices use it to consolidate holdings across public markets, private equity, real estate, and alternatives in a single tax-efficient, MAS-regulated vehicle. Over 1,000 VCCs had been incorporated in Singapore by 2024.

What is an Open-ended Fund Company (OFC) in Hong Kong?

An Open-ended Fund Company (OFC) is Hong Kong's equivalent to Singapore's VCC, regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). It provides a flexible, tax-transparent fund structure for professional investors, including family offices with exposure to Greater China private markets and regional real assets. The OFC has seen growing adoption since its introduction in 2018.

How does BlackRock's family office model differ from a private bank?

BlackRock's family office model is built around direct access to its institutional investment platform — including infrastructure, private credit, real assets, and public markets — rather than a product distribution model. Unlike private banks, which often embed retrocessions and distribution fees, BlackRock operates as a fiduciary asset manager. Its Aladdin risk platform also provides institutional-grade portfolio aggregation and reporting that most private banks do not offer.

What are MAS Section 13O and 13U schemes for family offices?

MAS Section 13O and 13U are Singapore tax incentive schemes that exempt income derived by family office fund vehicles from Singapore income tax. Section 13O applies to Singapore-incorporated funds with a minimum AUM of S$10 million, while Section 13U applies to funds with a minimum AUM of S$50 million and requires engagement of a MAS-licensed fund manager. Both schemes have local investment and spending requirements designed to anchor family office activity in Singapore.

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