BlackRock’s assets hit record high of $11.4 trillion

BlackRock’s assets under management hit a new record of almost $11.5 trillion after inflows rose in the third quarter and a global stock market rally boosted the value of clients’ investments.
Equity markets rose strongly in September after the Federal Reserve announced an outsized 50-basis point interest rate cut and investors increased bets on a soft landing for the US economy. In the third quarter, the S&P 500 index of America’s biggest public companies gained 5.4 per cent, while the MSCI’s index of global stocks advanced 6.2 per cent.
The equities rally, which came after the August sell-off, helped assets managed by BlackRock expand to a record $11.48 trillion in the three months to the end of September, compared with $9.10 trillion a year earlier and $10.65 trillion in the second quarter.
The world’s largest fund manager also reported record quarterly net inflows of $221 billion.
Larry Fink, 71, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, said: “Record government deficits and tighter bank lending means people, companies and countries will increasingly turn to markets to finance their retirements, their business and their economies.
“The growth and prosperity generating power of the capital markets will remain a dominant economic trend in the coming decades, and BlackRock will be an important player in that growth. The opportunities ahead have never been better than we’ve seen now.”
In the first three quarters of this year, BlackRock’s net inflows have already surpassed full-year inflows in 2022 and 2023. In the most recent quarter, clients poured $97.4 billion into exchange-traded funds. Some $74.1 billion was added to equity products and $62.7 billion to fixed-income.
Last week BlackRock completed its $12.5 billion acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners, adding over $100 billion in assets to its portfolio.
Fink said that BlackRock was leveraging its technology, scale and global footprint to deliver profitable growth. BlackRock’s net income rose to $1.63 billion in the third quarter, up from $1.6 billion a year earlier.
Also marking the start of the US corporate results season on Friday, JP Morgan Chase beat analysts’ profit forecasts as it recorded better-than-expected results in investment banking and trading divisions, which helped to offset higher provisions for loan losses from indebted borrowers.
Third-quarter profits of $12.9 billion represented a 2 per cent fall on the same period last year but exceeded the $12.1 billion forecast by analysts.
Investment banking revenue rose 29 per cent to $2.4 billion, after fees surpassed management’s guidance last month. Equity Markets revenue was $2.6 billion, up 27 per cent, which the bank said reflected strong performance across regions, largely driven by a supportive trading environment in the US and increased late-quarter activity in Asia.
The bank set aside $3.11 billion for likely credit losses, compared with $1.38 billion a year ago, as consumers deplete the savings that they built up during the pandemic.
Jamie Dimon, president and chief executive of JP Morgan, warned of “treacherous” and worsening geopolitics which could have “far-reaching effects on both short-term economic outcomes and, more importantly, on the course of history”. Investors fear that rising geopolitical tensions are becoming an increasing threat to financial markets stability.
In the afternoon in New York shares in JP Morgan were $10.42, or 4.9 per cent higher at $223.25 while BlackRock stock was up $29.45, or 3.1 per cent, at $985.04.