Office address: 50 Hudson Yards New York, NY 10001
Website: www.blackrock.com
Year established: 1988
Company type: investment company
Employees: 19,800+
Expertise: asset management, risk management, ETFs (iShares), fixed income, alternative investments, wealth management, retirement solutions, private equity, infrastructure, real estate, sustainable investing, financial technology
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Larry Fink (CEO), Rob Kapito (president), Joud Abdel Majeid (global head), Stephen Cohen (CPO), Ed Fishwick (CRO), Rob Goldstein (COO), Martin Small (CFO), Chris Meade (CLO)
Financing status: N/A
BlackRock is a global investment company from New York, offering asset management, advisory, and risk management services. The firm manages $11.5 trillion in assets as of October 2024 and operates in over 38 countries. With over 19,800 employees, the company serves clients in more than 100 countries, helping them achieve long-term financial well-being through innovative financial solutions.
BlackRock was founded in 1988 by Laurence Fink and seven partners, driven by a desire to manage assets with a focus on risk management and client interests. The company quickly grew, and in 1999, it launched Aladdin, its proprietary technology that transformed the risk management industry. During the 2008 financial crisis, the company was tapped by the Federal Reserve to assess Bear Stearns' assets, playing a crucial advisory role.
In 2009, it acquired Barclays Global Investors, becoming the world's largest asset manager and integrating both active and index strategies. In 2017, the company deepened its focus on investment stewardship, emphasizing the long-term value of purpose in profitability. By 2024, it partnered with Vestmark to boost model portfolios, further expanding its offerings for registered investment advisors.
BlackRock offers a wide range of investment products and services designed to meet the diverse needs of its clients. Below are the some of their key offerings:
BlackRock’s global team provides insights on markets, economies, and long-term strategies, helping clients navigate the complexities of investing. Whether it is a professional or a new investor, their services aim to support financial success while also empowering employees and giving back to communities.
BlackRock’s culture is built on a commitment to its clients, employees, and core principles. The company focuses on employee growth, offering benefits that support physical, emotional, and financial well-being. The firm provides various resources and benefits to keep employees engaged and balanced, some of which include:
The firm’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is central to its success, fostering an environment where employees feel a sense of belonging. The company’s global platform thrives by incorporating diverse perspectives to deliver the best outcomes for clients. By embracing unique skills and experiences, they empower employees to collaborate effectively and contribute to a shared mission:
The company’s social impact focuses on making financial prosperity accessible to more people and communities. The BlackRock Foundation supports low- to moderate-income households by helping them save, invest, and build wealth. Initiatives include:
BlackRock’s approach to corporate sustainability focuses on long-term value for shareholders, employees, communities, and clients. The company is committed to transparency, providing stakeholders with meaningful sustainability-related information.
Laurence Fink is company’s chairman, CEO, and founder, also serving on the boards of NYU and the World Economic Forum. Before founding BlackRock in 1988, he was a managing director at The First Boston Corporation. Fink earned a BA in political science and an MBA in real estate from UCLA.
The company’s key leadership team includes notable figures who lead the firm’s operations across global markets:
To prepare for potential market volatility, BlackRock advises financial professionals to reduce risk and shift toward safer investment options. With uncertainty ahead, particularly due to macroeconomic concerns and the upcoming elections, the firm highlights the importance of defensive strategies like the BlackRock Flexible Income ETF (BINC). This strategic adjustment also reflects their broader move toward active management, signaling its belief in a more hands-on approach during turbulent times.
The company recently reached an $11.5 trillion milestone in assets under management by the third quarter of 2024. This growth was driven by strong client inflows, notably into ETFs, fixed income, and private assets. BlackRock is accelerating its push into private assets, following acquisitions like Global Infrastructure Partners, and continues to lead in both public and private markets.
Today's Breakfast with Benjamin features BlackRock's settlement with the N.Y. attorney general. Plus: Stock futures looking up, activist hedge funds rock, a look at 4Q earnings, the myth of cybersecurity, retirement mistakes to avoid and the upside of office relationships.
The BlackRock Global Long/Short Equity Fund is a computer nerd's dream and, with its ability to zig when the rest of the market zags, a potentially valuable addition to a portfolio.
“It's a very large source of demand” from the pension funds, said Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive officer of DoubleLine Capital LP.
Index champ has $652 billion in actively managed mutual funds.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management is giving its fixed-income alternatives fund lineup a boost by converting its nontraded Credit Strategies Fund into a new liquid-alternatives-bond fund. Goldman plans to fold the $448 million fund, which offers only limited, quarterly share repurchases, into the yet-to-be launched open-end Goldman Sachs Long Short Credit Strategies Fund, pending shareholder approval, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The demand for liquid alternatives has never been higher, and it is drawing in a pack of money managers who are all vying to be leaders of the pack.
The problem is complex: With bonds in the dumps, many advisers are cutting their clients' allocations to fixed income. But they have to figure out where to put that money, because it's not a slam-dunk “toss it into stocks” decision.
Investors are dumping gold-backed exchange-traded products at the fastest pace since the securities were created a decade ago, mirroring the steepest price drop in 32 years.
Money manager said to seek $3 billion for new credit hedge fund.
BlackRock Inc. President Robert Kapito said investors are still largely in cash five years after the financial crisis.
One year on, iShares' Core series is clawing back market share for BlackRock as price cuts, rebranding helps firm recover from case of “Vanguarditis.”
Wall Street's biggest firms are predicting intensifying bond losses in emerging markets, where borrowing costs have already soared to the highest in more than four years versus U.S. corporate debt, as the Federal Reserve considers curtailing record stimulus.
Exchange-traded bandwagon not dragging as new record set; inflows even in shunned sectors
