American fund manager BlackRock has reported a net income of $1.09bn for the first quarter of 2018, a surge of 27% compared to $859m a year ago.
The company’s revenue for the quarter ended 31 March 2018 was $3.58bn, up 16% from $3.09bn in the same period last year.
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The fund manager’s quarterly operating income soared 20% to $1.37bn from $1.14bn in the previous year.
The group’s assets under management (AuM) at the end of March 2018 totalled $6.32 trillion, as against $5.42 trillion last year.
BlackRock chairman and CEO Laurence Fink said: “Paced by a strong January, long-term net inflows of $55 billion, representing 5% annualized organic base fee growth, were positive across active and index strategies. Momentum continued in technology and risk management, with 19% year-over-year revenue growth, further highlighting the strength and diversity of our global platform.
“Investors experienced a spike in market volatility during the quarter, driven by concerns over global trade policies, a heightened focus on rates and inflation, and headlines in the technology sector. Institutional investors, in particular, reacted to these factors, by de-risking and re-balancing. At the same time, we also saw many corporate clients adapting to U.S. tax reform by seeking liquidity to fund future capital investment or more aggressive share repurchases. As a result of these various crosscurrents, BlackRock experienced a significant number of both large inflows and large outflows from institutional clients in the first quarter.”
