BlackRock’s assets hit record US$14 trillion on fourth-quarter markets rally

Flags fly on the front of BlackRock headquarters in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

BlackRock beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday as a rally in markets lifted fee income and pushed its assets under management to a record US$14.04 trillion.

Shares of the largest asset manager in the world rose 2.5 per cent in premarket trade post the results.

U.S. stocks have rallied on enthusiasm around artificial intelligence, easing interest rates and steady economic growth, fueling gains in equity markets and prompting investors to pour money back into lower-cost index strategies.

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As inflation eased and the job market cooled, the Federal Reserve turned more dovish, driving strong inflows into BlackRock’s fixed-income products.

Equity product inflow was $126.05 billion, compared with $126.57 billion a year ago, while fixed-income products saw inflows of $83.77 billion in the quarter.

Long-term net inflows totaled about $267.8 billion, led by continued strength in its ETF business, the firm’s main engine of organic growth. BlackRock posted a record $698.26 billion of full-year net inflows.

ETFs are increasingly popular with investors seeking low-cost, diversified exposure across markets.

Its performance fees rose 67 per cent to $754 million in the reported period, after rising nearly 33% in the third quarter.

BlackRock stock has gained 4.4 per cent in 2025, lagging the broader S&P 500 index in 2025.

Private market play

Asset managers have been working to diversify revenue by expanding into higher fee-paying business rather than low-cost index products.

BlackRock has been leaning more heavily into private markets, real estate and infrastructure, with a particular focus on AI-linked assets such as data centers and power infrastructure.

The AI push is designed to tap larger, longer-term pools of capital and build more stable, higher-margin revenue streams beyond traditional public markets.

Its private markets business drew inflows of $12.71 billion in the quarter.

BlackRock is targeting $400 billion of cumulative fundraising in private markets by 2030. As part of this push, it unveiled plans to include private assets in its retirement plans.

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Private assets generate significantly higher fees than exchange-traded funds, a core part of BlackRock’s business through its iShares franchise.

BlackRock’s assets under management rose to $14.04 trillion in the quarter, up from $11.55 trillion a year earlier, as markets rallied on the prospect of further interest-rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Total revenue - most of which is earned as a percentage of assets under management - rose to $7 billion from $5.68 billion a year ago, exceeded analysts’ expectations of $6.69 billion.

Its total expenses rose to $5.35 billion from $3.6 billion last year.

Excluding some one-time charges, net profit jumped to $2.18 billion, or $13.16 per share, for the three months ended December 31, up from $1.87 billion, or $11.93 per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $12.21 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru and Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Editing by Devika Syamnath)