The assets managed by BlackRock has hit a record $10.65 trillion as of the second quarter due to an increase in client asset values. Investors also put in a significant amount of funds into the company’s exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Stock markets have been hitting record highs over the last few months due to increased expectations of a soft economic landing and an interest in AI-based investments.
The $10.65 trillion figure is up from $9.43 trillion a year earlier and $10.5 trillion from the first quarter.
BlackRock acquired private markets data company Preqin in a deal valued at $3.2 billion last month. This deal happened shortly after BlackRock acquired alternative asset company Global Infrastructure Partners for $12.5 billion.
BlackRock generated nearly $140 billion in total net inflows for the first half of this year, including about $82 billion for the second quarter – leading to 3% organic base fee growth. The ETFs captured the majority of flows at $83 billion.
The company’s investment and admin fees increased 8.6% to $3.72 billion. And revenue from tech services increased 10% to $395 million, showing solid demand for the Aladdin platform. Revenue for the quarter increased 8% to $4.81 billion and net income increased to $1.5 billion from $1.37 billion a year earlier.
KEY QUOTES:
“BlackRock is executing on the broadest opportunity set we’ve seen in years, including in private markets, Aladdin, and whole portfolio solutions across both ETFs and active. At the same time, we are opening up meaningful new growth markets for our clients and shareholders with our planned acquisitions of Global Infrastructure Partners and Preqin.”
“BlackRock generated nearly $140 billion of total net inflows in the first half of 2024, including $82 billion in the second quarter resulting in 3% organic base fee growth. Organic growth was driven by private markets, retail active fixed income, and surging flows into our ETFs, which had their best start to a year on record. We are delivering growth with scale, reflected in a 12% increase to operating income and 160 basis points of margin expansion.”
“BlackRock has longstanding relationships with corporates and governments around the world as a long-term investor in public equity and debt. These relationships differentiate BlackRock as a capital partner in private markets, driving unique deal flow for clients. We have strong sourcing capabilities, and we are transforming our private markets platform to bring even more benefits of scale and technology to our clients. We are on pace to close our planned acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners in the third quarter of 2024, which is expected to double private markets base fees and add approximately $100 billion of infrastructure AUM. And just a few weeks ago, we announced our agreement to acquire Preqin, a leading private markets data provider.”
“BlackRock is defining a unique, integrated approach to private markets – spanning investment, technology workflows and data. We believe this will deepen our relationships with clients, and deliver value for our shareholders through premium, diversified organic revenue growth. “Clients have always been at the center of our strategy. We will continue to innovate and evolve to deliver the outcomes and performance they need. We believe our momentum with clients will only accelerate from here, driving differentiated growth for our shareholders.”
– Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO
