Exhibit 99.1


                                                                    BlackRock


Contacts:
Kathleen Baum
212-810-5429
Brian Beades
212-810-5596
invrel@blackrock.com


                   BLACKROCK NAMES PAUL L. AUDET TO HEAD ITS
             CASH MANAGEMENT BUSINESS; HIRES STEVEN E. BULLER AS CFO


New York, September 7, 2005 - BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) announced today that
Paul L. Audet will assume responsibility for its $80 billion cash management
business, and its Delaware-based operations. He will continue to serve on the
firm's Management Committee. Succeeding Mr. Audet as Chief Financial Officer
will be Steven E. Buller, who will join the firm on October 1, 2005, as a
Managing Director and a member of the Management Committee. The two executives
will work together through year-end to ensure a smooth transition.

Mr. Buller comes to BlackRock from Ernst & Young LLP, where he is a partner and
co-Director of the Global Asset Management Services practice. He is widely
recognized for his leadership in financial accounting, and his expertise in the
regulatory issues pertaining to the global investment management industry. He
serves as E&Y's liaison to the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of
Investment Management and, for four years, was Chairman of the AICPA's
Investment Companies Committee.

Mr. Audet joined BlackRock in 1998, as Managing Director and Chief Financial
Officer from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. As head of PNC's M&A group
he executed, among other transactions, the purchase of BlackRock in 1995.

"We have known Steve and worked closely with him on a variety of financial
matters for many years. We are delighted that he will be joining us and look
forward to his contribution to BlackRock's continued growth and success,"
commented Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock. "We are equally
excited about Paul's new role. Under Paul's leadership, our finance team has
consistently distinguished BlackRock for the quality and transparency of our
public reporting and their ability to seamlessly support our growing franchise.
I am confident Paul will make a strong contribution to our cash management
business, and more broadly, to our Wilmington operations.

About BlackRock

BlackRock is one of the largest publicly traded investment management firms in
the United States with approximately $414 billion of assets under management at
June 30, 2005. BlackRock manages assets on behalf of institutional and
individual investors worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, cash
management and alternative investment products. In addition, BlackRock provides
risk management, investment system outsourcing and financial advisory services
to a growing number of institutional investors. Clients are served from the
Company's headquarters in New York City, as well as offices in Boston,
Edinburgh, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Wilmington.
BlackRock is majority owned by The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:
PNC) and by BlackRock employees. For additional information, please visit the
Company's website at www.blackrock.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release, and other statements that BlackRock may make, may contain
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act, with respect to BlackRock's future financial or business





performance, strategies or expectations. Forward-looking statements are
typically identified by words or phrases such as "trend," "potential,"
"opportunity," "pipeline," "believe," "comfortable," "expect," "anticipate,"
"current," "intention," "estimate," "position," "assume," "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. The information contained on our website is not a part of
this press release.

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 and does not undertake 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 (SEC) reports and those identified elsewhere in this press
release, 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 relative and absolute 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 or divestitures; (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 and international hostilities, which may adversely affect
the general economy, financial and capital markets, specific industries, and
BlackRock; (12) the ability to attract and retain highly talented professionals;
(13) fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, which may adversely affect
the value of advisory fees earned by BlackRock; and (14) the impact of changes
to tax legislation and, generally, the tax position of the Company.

BlackRock's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and
BlackRock's subsequent reports filed with the SEC, accessible on the SEC's
website at http://www.sec.gov and on BlackRock's website at
http://www.blackrock.com, discuss these factors in more detail and identify
additional factors that can affect forward-looking statements.

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