BlackRock, the  investment management, risk management and advisory firm, has named Jeong Hoon Lee as head of its alternative investment strategy group for North Asia, a newly created role.

Since 8 January this year, Lee has been working on BlackRock’s alternative investment platform to meet clients’ investment needs in North Asia, as well as developing new regional investment opportunities for global clients, said the firm yesterday in a statement.

The hire follows the hires of Joseph Pacini, as head of alternative investment strategy group for Asia Pacific, and Andrew Landman, as head of alternatives in Australia, in March and December 2012, respectively. Lee reports to Pacini and is based in Seoul.

“We are dedicated to delivering exceptional alternative investment ideas to our clients in Korea and across Asia Pacific. The appointment of Jeong Hoon underscores this and BlackRock’s ambition of bolstering our capabilities in markets where we see growth potential,” said Pacini.

Lee has more than 15 years of industry experience, most recently as head of the Fortress Investment Group in Seoul. He was previously at Darby Private Equity, a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton Investments.

“As alternatives [assets] vie to become part of the new mainstream in Asia, we are focused on bringing investment opportunities outside the region to our Asian clients as well as focusing on emerging opportunities in Asia for our global clients,” Pacini said.

As of 31 December, 2012, BlackRock managed around $113 billion in alternative assets globally, of which over 20 per cent comes from the Asia Pacific region, while the group’s total AuM was $3.792 trillion at the same date.

Globally, BlackRock Alternative Investors offers hedge funds, fund of hedge funds and advisory, private equity, real estate, infrastructure and a suite of specialised solutions.