(Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)., the world’s largest money manager and provider of exchange-traded funds, beat analysts’ third quarter earnings estimates led by strength in iShares even as institutions yanked money from some products.
Key Insights
- iShares saw net inflows of $33.7 billion. The firm is the largest issuer of ETFs globally and that accounts for about one third of its total assets under management.
- BlackRock’s institutional clients pulled money from index and active funds for total outflows of $24.8 billion. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said that result was in part due to firms cutting risk amid “ongoing divergent monetary policy and geopolitical uncertainty.”
- Fink attributed institutional outflows to choppy markets and investor nerves in an interview on CNBC. “The markets are showing that investors are confused,” Fink said. “I was disappointed in the net flows,” he added, saying they’re “very explainable by some large de-risking.”
- Overall flows were dragged down by BlackRock’s non-ETF index equity strategies. Total net out flows were $3.1 billion.
- Revenue in the firm’s technology unit gained 18 percent. Fink has said he hopes technology will power 30 percent of the firm’s revenue by 2022.
Digging Deeper
- Assets under management rose to $6.44 trillion.
- Revenue gained 2 percent to $3.58 billion.
(Adds Fink comment in third bullet.)
