BlackRock Inc. announced it has completed its acquisition of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, creating a unit with more than $1 trillion in assets under management.
   The deal was announced earlier this year-part of a trend that has seen prominent Wall Street firms sell off their asset-management businesses to avoid potential conflicts of interest and distribution hurdles.
   Analysts have said BlackRock, by purchasing Merrill Lynch's asset management organization, is tapping into the firm's distribution capabilities to increase its retail presence. BlackRock already has a sizeable reputation as a fixed-income manager for institutional clients.
   The financial details of the merger were not disclosed, but previous reports said Merrill Lynch sold its investment management unit in return for a minority stake in BlackRock.