BlackRock’s AUM Grow to $11.58 Trillion
The US-headquartered Global asset manager BlackRock on Friday said that its assets under management (AUM) grew 11% to $11.58 trillion as of March 31 this year compared with previous year’s $10.47 trillion.
Announcing the Q1-2025 results in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company also reported that this was higher than $11.55 trillion as of 31 December 2024. New inflows of $84.17 billion, higher than previous year’s $57.19 billion, and foreign exchange-related gains of $91.8 billion proved just enough to offset $135.6 billion in market-related declines for the latest quarter, the company said.
Net inflows of $7.1 billion for BlackRock’s private markets business, a focus of the firm’s efforts last year with its acquisition of infrastructure giant Global Infrastructure Partners and private credit firm HPS, exceeded $7 billion of realisations for the quarter, lifting total private markets AUM to $212.4 billion from $212 billion.
Revenue in the quarter climbed 12% to $5.28 billion from prior year’s $4.73 billion. However, net income dropped 4% to $1.51 billion from last year’s $1.57 billion while earnings per share fell 8% to $9.64 from $10.48 a year ago, with 4% rise in share count. The adjusted net income was $1.77 billion or $11.30 per share during the Q1 of this year, compared with $1.47 billion or $9.81 per share in the previous year.
BlackRock’s exchange traded fund (ETF) business proved the biggest magnet for net inflows in the latest quarter, pulling in $107 billion, followed by $13 billion in retail flows, offsetting $37 billion in institutional outflows.
Region-wise, BlackRock said that the inflows of $51 billion from clients in the Americas and $36 million from EMEA far outpaced $4 billion in net outflows from the Asia-Pacific region.
The company also repurchased shares to the tune of $375 million in the current quarter and the quarterly dividend increased by 2% to $5.21 per share.
CEO Confident
Admitting market volatility since the start of President Donald J Trump’s second term, which has been marked with radical shifts in economic policy, BlackRock Chairman and CEO Laurence D Fink expressed confidence that the company has always emerged stronger from such periods.
“While uncertainty and anxiety about the future of markets and the economy are dominating client conversations now, we have seen periods like this before when there were large, structural shifts in policy and markets — like the financial crisis, COVID and surging inflation in 2022. We always stayed connected with clients, and some of BlackRock’s biggest leaps in growth followed,” Fink explained.
According to him, BlackRock’s positioning and connectivity with clients were stronger than ever, and it was clear in the results. The company has delivered 6% organic base fee growth in the first quarter, representing its best start to a year since 2021 and secular strength against a complex market backdrop.
“Today, we are better prepared than ever to advise and deliver on each of our clients’ unique tactical and strategic objectives. The goal for us is to keep our clients focused on the long-term, and help them achieve any near-term allocation or liquidity changes they need within the BlackRock platform,” he added.
