BlackRock, Inc. is an investment management firm based in the United States, with $273 billion of assets under management at year-end 2002 for institutional and individual investors worldwide. Its products span a broad spectrum of fixed income, liquidity, equity and alternative investment separate accounts and mutual funds, including the BlackRock Funds and BlackRock Provident Institutional Funds (BPIF) families. The Company also offers risk management and investment system services to institutional investors through its BlackRock Solutions product line. BlackRock is a majority-owned, indirect subsidiary of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., a diversified financial services company based in the United States.