Investment veteran Quintin Price, the man who has run BlackRock's near-$1 trillion alpha strategies business since its formation in 2012, is to retire next year.

Price was picked by BlackRock chief Larry Fink to improve the performance of its North American active equity funds in 2014 but retained oversight of the whole $944 billion alpha strategies investment group, which comprises the group's actively-managed funds across fixed income and equities.