BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is cutting up to 500 jobs.

The move, announced in a memo seen by Insider and Bloomberg, comes as Wall Street continues to downsize in the face of high interest rates that have raised the risk of a recession.

BlackRock had 19,900 employees as of 30 September, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The 500 jobs to go represent approximately 2.5% of the total number of employees.

It is not known if any jobs will be lost in the UK.

The company gave no detail in the memo on which sections of the business would bear the brunt of the job losses.

In the memo, BlackRock’s chief executive and president Larry Fink said: “The uncertainty around us makes it more important than ever that we stay ahead of changes in the market and focus on delivering for our clients.”

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A BlackRock executive told Sky News in December that this year would be unpredictable.

“It’s going to be a volatile year again I’m afraid”, said BlackRock’s co-chief equity investment officer of its fundamental equity group, Nigel Bolton, on Ian King Live.

Higher interest rates, imposed by central banks in an effort to lower inflation, have made borrowing more expensive, while prices have risen and the global economy has slowed and braced for recession.

As the world’s biggest asset manager, downturns in markets have hurt BlackRock. Shares of BlackRock itself dropped 23% in 2022 as stock markets had their worst year since 2008.

The firm is the latest in a string of Wall Street and City heavy hitters to announce worker reductions.

up to 3,200 jobs are to go at Goldman Sachs as part of the biggest restructuring efforts at the company since the global financial crash.

About 1,600 jobs are also reported to go at Morgan Stanley, about 2% of its workforce.

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