(Bloomberg) - BlackRock Inc. pulled in $342 billion of total client cash in the fourth quarter, pushing the firm to a record $14 trillion of assets as it integrates a string of recent acquisitions to become a force in private markets.
Investors added $268 billion on a net basis to its long-term investment funds, including $181 billion to its exchange-traded fund business that now has $5.5 trillion overall, BlackRock said Thursday in a statement announcing full-year and quarterly earnings. The tally in the last three months of the year pushed the total annual haul, including money-market and cash-management funds, to $698 billion, setting a new record.
Net flows to long-term investment funds beat the $232 billion average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The results include for the first time one of the biggest outsourcing deals in the industry, the move by Citigroup Inc. to hand BlackRock about $80 billion in the bank’s wealthy clients’ investment assets to manage.
“Around the world, clients are looking to do more across BlackRock,” Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said in the statement. “Our pipeline of business has broadened across products and regions, spanning public and private markets mandates, technology and data, and client channels.”
BlackRock’s adjusted earnings per share in the quarter rose 10% from a year ago to $13.16. That beat the average analyst estimate of $12.28. Revenue rose 23% to $7 billion from the year-ago quarter.
Operating expenses for the quarter rose 48% from a year ago to $5.3 billion, as BlackRock continues its aggressive expansion in the private markets. The firm increased its quarterly cash dividend 10% to $5.73 per share.
BlackRock’s private markets revenue for the full year roughly doubled to $2.4 billion from 2024.
The asset manager is in the midst of transforming itself from a dominant player in stocks, bonds and public markets, into one of the largest firms in private credit and infrastructure markets globally. Fink plunked down about $28 billion to buy Global Infrastructure Partners, HPS Investment Partners. and Preqin Ltd., in one of its biggest deal sprees to become a force in private markets investing and data.
BlackRock is continuing to integrate the firms after the acquistions, which wrapped up in July with the completion of its deal to buy credit firm HPS. It’s also unveiling new products marketed to wealthy retail investors and defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)s. The company took in $15.6 billion in liquid alternative and private assets in the quarter.
Shares of BlackRock rose 13.4% over the past 12 months through Wednesday, trailing the S&P 500’s 18.6% increase.
By Silla Brush
