American fund manager BlackRock has reported a net income of $927m for the fourth quarter of 2018. The figure marks a 60% slump from the previous year, when the fund manager’s net income stood at $2.29bn.
The firm’s total revenue for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 was $3.43bn, down 9% from $3.76bn in the same period last year. Operating income decreased 16% to $1.24bn from $1.48bn.
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The group’s assets under management at the end of December 2018 totalled $5.98 trillion, a fall of 5% from $6.29 trillion a year ago.
BlackRock chairman and CEO Laurence Fink told CNBC: “The biggest issue… we had huge equity declines in the fourth quarter, we had commodity declines. We had about a 5% decay in our asset base not because of outflows but because of what the market felt.
However, Fink remains upbeat after BlackRock saw record inflows in ETFs and alternatives in the fourth quarter. “BlackRock generated total net inflows of $124 billion in 2018. This included $50 billion of fourth quarter net inflows and record quarters for iShares and illiquid alternative strategies,” Fink said.
“Technology services revenue grew 19% in 2018, driven by strong demand for Aladdin and our digital wealth technologies. Our results reflect continued growth in these key initiatives and the resilience of our platform.”
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By GlobalDataA few days ago, the firm unveiled plans to axe around 500 jobs. It booked a $60m restructuring charge in this regard.
