The investment giant reported its financial results for the year to 31 December, revealing its assets had surged although total net flows had dropped on the 12 months prior, to US$390.8 billion compared to 2019’s $US428.7 billion.
Growth in BlackRock’s ETF unit, iShares, somewhat drove its momentum in the fourth quarter, contributing to a total of US$127 billion in total net inflows. The division attracted US$79 billion in inflows during the last quarter, almost half of its inflows for the entire year, which were US$185 billion.
iShares had US$2.6 trillion in assets under management (AUM) as at 31 December, a 31 per cent portion of the group’s assets, in contrast to US$845.9 billion from the retail business (10 per cent of the AUM total) and US4.4 trillion in total institutional AUM (51 per cent).
Index investing made up the bulk of the institutional assets, with US$2.9 trillion, or 33 per cent of the group’s AUM total.
The group also recorded an 11 per cent increase in its full-year revenue, to US$16.2 billion. Operating income on a GAAP basis made a slight 3 per cent incline to US$5.6 billion, while net income increased by 10 per cent to US$4.9 billion.
Shareholders also made gains, with a 12 per cent increase in the group’s full-year diluted earnings per share. BlackRock had returned US$3.8 billion to its shareholders in 2020, including US$1.5 billion in share repurchases.
Laurence Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock commented the results reflected the group’s built-out platform, strategy and culture.
“Our strategic areas of investment flourished in 2020 as we saw record client demand for active equity, sustainable, cash and alternative investment strategies, generated US$185 billion of net flows into iShares ETFs and surpassed US$1 billion in technology services revenue,” Mr Fink said.
“We begin 2021 well-positioned and intend to keep investing in our business to drive long-term growth and to lead the evolution of the asset management industry.”
The EMEA region had the strongest flows for the full year, with US$97 billion, compared to the Americas’ US$95 billion and the Asia Pacific’s US$65 billion.
Retail net flows came to US$70 billion, in contrast to US$3 billion from institutional clients.
