Jennifer Ryan was named managing director and head of North American distribution at Lazard Asset Management.
Based in New York, it is a newly created position, a spokeswoman said in an email. Ms. Ryan reports to Evan Russo, CEO of Lazard Asset Management.
Her responsibilities include the firm's North American business development efforts and she will oversee Lazard's institutional client group, financial institutions group, alternative investment sales and consultant relations group, a news release said Wednesday.
Ms. Ryan was previously managing director and head of U.K. institutional client business at BlackRock, a spokesman there said in an email. She left in November and was replaced by Gavin Lewis, a managing director and previously head of U.K. local government pension schemes for BlackRock's institutional client business.
As of Dec. 31, Lazard Asset Management had $216 billion in assets under management.
