The BlackRock Human Resources Manager must leave after "failing to comply" with the policy.

The human resources manager of BlackRock has left the fund manager after "failing to comply with the company's policy," the company said on Wednesday.

The $ 6.8 billion fund giant announced the sudden departure of Jeff Smith, head of human resources, in a strong memo to employees seen by the Financial Times.

The details of the behavior that led to the release are unclear but will have no financial impact on the company or its customers, according to people with knowledge of the issue. BlackRock declined to comment.

"We expect every BlackRock employee, especially our top executives, to meet the highest standards of conduct," said Larry Fink, Chief Executive Officer, and Rob Kapito, President.

Smith joined BlackRock in its 2009 acquisition of Barclays Global Investors, which included the iShares ETF business. He previously worked for Time Warner. Mr. Smith could not be contacted immediately for comment.

He was a member of the Global Executive Committee and BlackRock Global Operating Committee.

Mr. Smith earned a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the Polytechnic Institute of Virginia in 1997 and holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Connecticut. At Time Warner, he was Vice President of People Development.

BlackRock has appointed Rob Fairbairn, its vice president, acting director of human resources, as a permanent replacement.

"Rob has led some of the company's largest companies, including our combined retail and iShares businesses, our international customer business and our international operations," said Messrs. Fink and Kapito. "Rob will work with the Human Resources team to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities."

BlackRock is the largest fund manager in the world and has experienced spectacular growth since the purchase of BGI. The fund manager benefited from investors' growing appetite for exchange-traded funds, the low-cost portfolios, which propelled the group's overall badets to nearly $ 7 billion, compared to 1.3 million dollars. billion before the transaction with BGI.