Reports

BlackRock's Profit Beats Wall Street Forecasts, Boosted By Fees, ETF Inflows

Josh O'Neill Assistant Editor October 11, 2017

BlackRock's Profit Beats Wall Street Forecasts, Boosted By Fees, ETF Inflows

BlackRock, the global ETF giant, has published its financial results for the quarter ended September 30.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, today reported an 8.2 per cent rise in quarterly profits, beating Wall Street estimates and propelled by higher fees as investors poured more money into exchange-traded funds. 

Fees from iShares, the firm’s popular index-tracking funds, swelled 38 per cent to $1.07 billion as the ETF business took in $52.3 billion in new money, up from $51.26 billion a year earlier. 

BlackRock closed the third quarter with $5.98 trillion in assets under management, rising from the $5.69 trillion in assets logged in the previous quarter. 

“BlackRock’s third quarter results reflect the continued growth of our global investment and technology platform and the trusted relationships we have built with our clients,” said Laurence Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock. “Our ability to create investment solutions from a broad range of products – spanning index to illiquid alternatives – combined with industry leading technology and risk management, is resonating with clients and driving more impactful interactions than ever before.”

Year-on-year, revenues rose 14 per cent, helped by growth in base fees, performance fees and technology and risk management revenues, BlackRock said. Technology and risk management revenues, specifically, were up 15 per cent year-on-year as more institutions chose BlackRock for its risk management and analytics services. 

The ETF behemoth chalked up net inflows of $42.3 billion, $23.6 billion and $9.9 billion from clients in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific regions, respectively. 

BlackRock’s cash management AuM increased 6 per cent to $425.4 billion, driven by $20.4 billion of net inflows.

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