BlackRock assets slip below $10-trillion after volatile third quarter

BlackRock’s assets under management fell slightly to $9.46-trillion in the third quarter, as the world’s largest money manager navigated higher inflation and equity markets suffered their worst returns since the outbreak of Covid-19.

Investors added a net $98bn to BlackRock’s long-term funds in the quarter, the New York-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Overall net inflows were $75.3bn.

BlackRock’s exchange-traded funds business, the industry’s largest, took in a net $58bn to reach $3-trillion in assets. Adjusted earnings were $10.95 a share, beating the average estimate of $9.39 by 11 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

“Organic growth was broad-based, spanning our active platform as well as in each of our ETF product categories,” CEO Larry Fink said in the statement. “Demand for ESG remains strong, with $31bn of inflows across our sustainable active and index strategies.”

Long-term sustainable flows were $32bn in the third quarter, and $79bn for the year so far, up from $64bn in all of 2020 and $33bn in 2019. 

The results show that the firm continues to attract money even as equity markets declined in September, denting returns for the third quarter. The S&P 500 index rose 0.2% in the period, with investors confronting the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant amid worries over higher inflation. 

Fink said on Tuesday at the Institute of International Finance annual membership meeting that inflation “is going to be with us longer,” and isn’t a transitory problem related to supply chain bottlenecks. 

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