BlackRock assets under management surge to record $9tn

BlackRock’s assets under management ballooned to a record $9tn in the first quarter, boosted by record fund inflows across its investment platform, led by fixed income.

The world’s biggest fund manager reported a 19 per cent year-on-year rise for first-quarter revenue to $4.4bn, beating a forecast $4.3bn, boosted by strong organic growth and higher performance fees.

Total net investment flows rose to a record $172bn during the first three months of the year, marking the fourth straight quarter BlackRock has attracted more than $100bn of net inflows. Long-term investment flows increased $133bn in the period, with fixed income accounting for $60.8bn and equity funds swelling by $49.8bn. 

“Flows represented 8 per cent annualised organic growth and a record 14 per cent annualised organic base fee growth,” said Laurence Fink, chief executive of BlackRock.

Net income climbed 16 per cent to $1.2bn and the company reported adjusted earnings per share of $7.77 for the first quarter. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected earnings per share of $7.71.

Shares in BlackRock lagged behind those of rivals and the S&P Asset Management index during the first quarter. The price rebounded from a brief drop below $700 in early March and touched an all-time high of $811.38 this week.

Ahead of the results, analysts at Morgan Stanley said that BlackRock had a “diversified scale business model, broad product set, wider distribution reach to drive organic asset growth, and expense levers to pull”. The bank increased its price target for BlackRock to $924 from $890.

BlackRock continues to lead the green investing wave with the launch this month of the largest new exchange traded fund.

“While all asset managers will benefit from rising equity markets this quarter, we believe BlackRock’s ability to deliver outsized flow growth remains a key differentiator,” said Kyle Sanders, analyst at Edward Jones. “Robust flows illustrate that the company is widening the competitive gap against rivals and taking market share.”

“The ESG explosion in the past year has caught a lot of asset managers off-guard,” he added. “Many are rebranding existing funds, whereas BlackRock has over 150 ESG funds already and is the market leader in this category.”