BlackRock eyes $400B haul from private markets by 2030

BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, boosted its annual revenue target for 2030 and set its first-ever firmwide target for private-markets fundraising at $400 billion by then.

The company’s “aspiration” for annual revenue is more than $35 billion in five years, compared with $20 billion in 2024, according to a presentation posted on its website Thursday ahead of its investor day. BlackRock, which oversees $11.6 trillion, seeks to double its market capitalization to $280 billion in five years by managing assets across stocks, bonds, cash management and increasingly alternative and higher-fee markets. 

A key part of reaching the new goals will be private markets, where longtime leveraged-buyout titans such as Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. traditionally dominate. BlackRock has committed about $28 billion over the past year or so for acquiring private-asset firms to elbow in on the space.

Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, 72, has prioritized transforming BlackRock into a major force in the private markets. Last year, the CEO struck deals to buy Global Infrastructure Partners, highly sought-after credit firm HPS Investment Partners and private-markets data firm Preqin. Fink also waded into geopolitics with a deal to buy a series of major ports, including two on either side of the Panama Canal.

Chief Financial Officer Martin Small said the firm’s 2030 strategy includes continuing to grow the firm with a top-five position in infrastructure and private credit markets. Small envisions existing clients, like insurers, family offices and sovereign wealth funds, moving more of their assets to private markets within BlackRock.

That shift is driving the firm’s goal of $400 billion in private markets fundraising from this year through 2030. The firm has said it will have about $220 billion of private credit client assets once it completes the HPS acquisition, adding to the more than $225 billion it had in private equity, infrastructure and real estate at the end of March.

In its investor presentation, BlackRock predicted the private credit market could expand to $4.5 trillion in 2030 from $1.6 trillion last year, and it said that HPS’s track record has “facilitated consistent fundraising momentum.” BlackRock aims to capitalize on its relationships with insurers to boost its credit business, and cited Japan and private high-grade credit as opportunities for growth in 2030.

With its GIP acquisition, BlackRock aims to profit from what it calls the “golden age” of infrastructure investing. Key areas include the energy transition, data centers, rewiring the supply chain and fixing aging infrastructure.