BlackRock will overhaul the leadership of its $300bn credit and private asset business in a bid to build more focused teams, it revealed in an internal memo.

The company confirmed to International Investment's sister brand Investment Week Jim Keenan, head of global credit, will focus on private credit going forward, while Rick Rieder, CIO of global fixed income, will spearhead leveraged finance, high-yield and more liquid credit strategies.

Edwin Conway, who led the alternatives unit, will lead a team focused on venture, private equity, infrastructure and growth equity investing, alongside strategies related to the transition to clean energy.

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As part of the changes, BlackRock will no longer have a single alternatives unit for all private assets.

In the memo, Conway and Rich Kushel, head of the portfolio management group, wrote: "Where clients once thought of private markets as an alternative to fixed income or equities, today they are talking about alternatives as essential components in their asset allocation.

"By creating more focused teams and a stronger, more cohesive investment platform, we are developing our capabilities as alternatives become less alternative."

Blackrock CEO Larry Fink and president Rob Kapito wrote in a separate memo the organisational and leadership changes are focused on "promoting existing leaders within each business that will accelerate their growth by creating better alignment, internally and externally, and even tighter focus for team, resources and leadership".

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Other changes include the consolidation of alternatives distribution responsibilities into the company's broader client business as well as the exit of David Lomas, global head of alternatives specialists, after 15 years at the firm.

BlackRock's multi-alternatives business will be folded into a wider multi-asset strategies and solutions unit, which will include active, index, factor and alternatives capabilities.

Infrastructure and real estate debt teams will be merged into the company's private credit team, reporting to Keenan.