BlackRock’s quarterly revenue up 23 per cent to nearly US$5.7 billion

The firm’s total annual revenue crossed US$20 billion last year, up 14 per cent from 2023

Author of the article:

Bloomberg News

Silla Brush

Published Jan 15, 2025  •  Last updated 5 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

“This is just the beginning,” chief executive Larry Fink said in the statement. “BlackRock enters 2025 with more growth and upside potential than ever.” Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP Getty Images files

BlackRock Inc. hauled in an annual record of US$641 billion in client cash, underlining the firm’s global reach across stocks and bonds, index and active funds and increasingly the fast-growing — and lucrative — market for private assets.

Article content

Article content

The tally included US$390 billion flowing into its exchange-traded funds (ETF) business overall last year, US$226 billion into equity funds and US$164 billion into fixed-income, BlackRock said in a statement Wednesday announcing the full-year and quarterly earnings of the world’s largest asset manager.

Article content

Shares of BlackRock rose 3.3 per cent to US$995 at 6:21 a.m. in New York.

The yearly sum exceeds the entire assets of some smaller money managers, built over decades, and demonstrates BlackRock’s ability to continue to attract clients during volatile markets and intense industry competition and change.

Article content

BlackRock’s total assets stood at almost US$11.6 trillion on December 31 and are set to grow this year following a year of dramatic deal-making by chief executive Larry Fink, who committed almost US$30 billion in three transactions to transform the firm into a major player in alternative and private assets and data.

“This is just the beginning,” Fink said in the statement. “BlackRock enters 2025 with more growth and upside potential than ever.”

BlackRock’s US$201 billion of net flows into its long-term investment funds in the last three months of the year and the US$281 billion of total net flows — which include cash-management products — for the quarter easily beat the US$160 billion and US$198 billion average estimates, respectively, of analysts survey by Bloomberg. Its bitcoin ETF, which started in early 2024, has grown rapidly to now have more than US$50 billion in assets.

Article content

Article content

The firm’s adjusted net income per share for the quarter rose 23 per cent from a year ago to US$11.93 per share. Quarterly revenue rose 23 per cent to nearly US$5.7 billion from a year ago, and the firm’s total annual revenue crossed US$20 billion last year, up 14 per cent from 2023.

M&A Activity

Shares of BlackRock rose 26 per cent in 2024, surpassing the 23 per cent advance of the S&P 500 Index. They have fallen about 6 per cent so far this year as of the market close on Tuesday, amid an equity market decline as investors wager the Federal Reserve will cut rates more slowly this year than they had thought only a few months ago.

The firm’s assets are set to grow considerably over the next few months with the announced deal to buy HPS Investment Partners LLC, which manages roughly US$150 billion and stands to propel BlackRock into the top leaders in private credit.

“For many companies, periods of M&A contribute to a pause in client engagement,” Fink said, adding that at the firm, instead, “client activity accelerated into the fourth quarter.”

The earnings show how the world’s largest asset manager is continuing to expand while many firms have struggled under the shift away from actively managed stock funds, poor investment returns and a third year of volatility in the bond market.

Article content

Recommended from Editorial

1. 

   It’s all fun and meme coins, until the markets turn

2. 

   'Dawning of infrastructure' to fuel economic growth

3. 

   Larry Fink calls on baby boomers to fix 'retirement crisis'

BlackRock is preparing to almost double its haul of alternative assets and compete against industry leaders Blackstone Inc., KKR & Co. and Apollo Global Management Inc.

The firm completed its US$12.5 billion acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (Global Infrastructure Management, LLC) in October and is in the process of closing a US$3.1 billion deal for data firm Preqin Ltd. Its US$12 billion purchase of private-credit shop HPS will refashion the company’s ability to provide a full range of public bonds and private credit financing to borrowers across markets.

Bloomberg.com

Article content