May 14 (Reuters) - Vanguard Group named former BlackRock

executive Salim Ramji as its new chief executive officer

and as a member of the board, effective July 8, the U.S. asset

management company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ramji will replace Tim Buckley, whose departure as the

chairman and CEO was announced in February.

Buckley has spent more than three decades at the company.

Under his tenure, Vanguard expanded its assets under management

by 80% to $9 trillion.

Ramji joined Blackrock as global head of corporate strategy

in 2014, leaving his position of Senior Partner at McKinsey &

Company in January.

At BlackRock, he became a member of the company's Global

Executive Committee and the global head of iShares and Index

Investments, where he was responsible for two-thirds of the

firm's assets and growth.

Ramji exited Blackrock in January.

The Pennsylvania-headquartered Vanguard is the world's

second-largest asset manager by assets after BlackRock. Vanguard

manages 423 funds worldwide and employs about 20,000 employees,

according to its website.