BlackRock's iShares unit has a new chief. Mark Wiedman became the new global head of the ETF juggernaut, succeeding Mike Latham, who assumes the newly created title of chairman, according to an internal memo on Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by The MFWire.com.

Wiedman reports to Robert Fairbairn, senior managing director and head of the global client group at BlackRock.

"After many years leading iShares in North America and globally, Mike Latham has expressed his desire to scale back responsibilities of running a global business day-to-day, while continuing to provide full-time strategic counseling to iShares and leadership to BlackRock," wrote Fairbairn in the memo sent to employees Tuesday afternoon.

Latham will continue to serve as a member of BlackRock's operating committee and will remain co-head of the San Francisco office alongside Milan Lint.

Wiedman joins iShares from BlackRock, where he has played a key role in fashioning BlackRock's strategy agenda over the past two years. Wiedman has been involved in the purchase and integration of Barclays Global Investors. 

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