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.