The Australian arm of BlackRock Investment Management has let go its head of marketing.

The Melbourne-based leader of the marketing team, Jean-Luc Ambrosi, was cut from the business within the last fortnight.

BlackRock began cutting jobs for the first time in its 20-year history last week, notifying its 5,500 employees of the impending changes in an unsigned memo.

“Time like these require fiscal discipline,” the memo read. “We expect it of the companies in which we invest, and we must expect it of ourselves.”

On October 21, the company stated that its third-quarter earnings fell by 15 per cent as its net income slumped from US$255.3 million to US$217.7 million, and its assets declined by 12 per cent to US$1.26 trillion.

“A wide variety of businesses across industries and regions have reported weak third-quarter results,” the memo stated.

“BlackRock is not immune.”

The managing director of BlackRock in Australia, Maurice O’Shannassy, was unavailable for comment at presstime.

Banks and brokerages worldwide have announced more than 166,000 job cuts since the US subprime mortgage market collapsed in 2007.