BlackRock, the world's largest money manager, reported a record $10.6 trillion in assets under management in Q2 2024. The company saw inflows of $83 billion and $35 billion to fixed income and ETFs respectively (Bloomberg).
Larry Fink, BlackRock's CEO, made headlines with the acquisition of the iShares ETF business from Barclays for roughly $13 billion in 2009. At that time, ETF assets under management were a mere $700 million (CNBC). Since then, iShares has seen significant growth with over $3.85 trillion in assets under management as of now (CNBC).
The ETF market has grown exponentially to over $9 trillion total assets under management, with the top five providers controlling about 85% of all ETF assets (CNBC). BlackRock's iShares business experienced inflows of $83 billion in Q2 and $150 billion year-to-date (CNBC). However, fee pressure across the entire ETF universe remains a concern.
Fink also announced Blackrock's LifePath Paycheck program, an attempt to enter the annuities business by using their existing target date fund framework and offering lifetime income asset classes (CNBC). Historically, investors have been suspicious of annuities due to low payouts and high commissions.
BlackRock also made headlines for purchasing Preqin for approximately $3.2 billion in cash, which could potentially create indexes for private equity investment (CNBC).
The minimal costs associated with increasing assets under management have been a significant advantage for BlackRock (CNBC). Greggory Warren, an industry expert, noted that the company's technology is at work in managing these assets efficiently.
Fink highlighted the 'barbell effect' as investors return to fixed income (FT).
