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The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock has reported a slowdown in inflows after two record quarters, as the sell-off in financial markets weighed on investor confidence.
The New York-headquartered group said it attracted $84bn in the three months to March, down from $281bn in the final quarter of 2024 and lower than Wall Street estimates. The new money boosted its assets under management to $11.6tn.
Full-year profits fell 4 per cent on the previous year to $1.5bn, or $9.64 per share, both short of analysts’ expectations.
The company said the decline was linked to expenses from its acquisition spree last year, when BlackRock struck $30bn of deals as chief executive Larry Fink pushed the group deeper into private markets.
Revenues rose 12 per cent from a year ago to $5.3bn, bolstered by its takeover of infrastructure investment firm Global Infrastructure Partners and growth in its exchange traded fund business.
“Uncertainty and anxiety about the future of markets and the economy are dominating client conversations,” Fink said. “We’ve 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.”
He added: “Some of BlackRock’s biggest leaps in growth followed.”
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