Thanks to a boom of fourth-quarter flows into its exchange-traded funds (ETF), multinational investment management firm BlackRock has become the first public asset manager to reach the milestone of $10 trillion in assets.
The record-breaking three months at the tail end of 2021 saw investors put a net $104 billion in Blackrock's ETFs. The S&P 500's concurrent 11% climb, as well as its overall 27% lift for 2021, undoubtedly contributed to the achievement. Beyond the market rally, the increasing interest in long-term investment vehicles such as ETFs and mutual funds put the wheels in motion for BlackRock to make history.
Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said, “Our business is more diversified than ever before. Active strategies, including alternatives, contributed over 60% of 2021 organic base fee growth.”
The success of actively-managed funds entails a net of around $101 billion in flows; BlackRock currently handles $2.6 trillion in such assets. The firm's alternatives business also experienced $5.5 billion of inflows, bringing total assets to $265 billion.
BlackRock's dominance was able to withstand a notable dip in assets under management at the end of the third quarter. CEO Fink will be able to include some impressive, brag-worthy numbers in his upcoming annual letter to corporate leaders, which also discusses developments in boardroom diversity, corporate environmentalism, and more.
