Alexander Udo Mertz

BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG (Blackrock-Deutschland) is the German asset management subsidiary of BlackRock (Netherlands) BV (Frankfurt Branch), ultimately held by BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) in the US, which merged in 2009 with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), including the iShares® exchange traded funds business. The combined firm operates under the BlackRock name and retains the iShares brand. The firm was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Munich. Blackrock-Deutschland designs and manages equity, dividend, bond and swap ETFs as well as special funds.

BayernInvest Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH (BIK) is the wholly-owned asset management subsidiary of Bayerische Landesbank, itself a subsidiary of BayernLB Holding AG in Germany. Established in 1989, the firm is based in Munich and specializes in providing asset management and central fund administration services for savings banks, insurance companies, corporate and occupational pension funds, endowments and religious institutions.