Luiz Soares is managing director at BlackRock and head of BlackRock's Global Emerging Markets team within BlackRock's Alpha Strategies Group. He is the lead portfolio manager of a number of flagship fundamental emerging market equity strategies for institutional and individual investors. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2012, Soares worked at Axiom International Investors where he was initially a research analyst covering Latin America. He was appointed to manage the Axiom Emerging Markets Equity Fund in August 2007. From 1997 to 2000, Soares worked at Reuters in the United States on fixed income derivatives. He began his career with Andersen Consulting in Brazil in 1993. Soares earned a Bachelor’s degree in business management and applied economics from Cornell University.