BlackRock beats forecasts as active inflows stay positive

The US-based investment management giant said it had quarterly total net inflows of $81bn, down from $100bn year-on-year, driven by continued momentum across the platform, and reflecting a previously-announced $58bm low-fee institutional index outflow related to a single client.

Active net inflows came in at $63b, once again positive across all product types, including equity, fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives.

Revenue was ahead 32% year-on-year at $4.82bn, which the board put down to “significant” market gains as well as strong organic growth, higher performance fees, and 14% growth in technology services revenue.

Operating income rose 37% to $1.93bn, and the diluted earnings per share movement was a positive 14%, or 28% on adjustments, reflecting lower non-operating income and a higher effective tax rate in the current quarter.

BlackRock also noted “consistent” capital management, with $300m of quarterly share repurchases.

“BlackRock’s comprehensive investment and technology platform continues to evolve ahead of our clients’ needs,” said chairman and chief executive officer Laurence Fink.

“Strong annualised organic base fee growth of 10% in the second quarter was driven by our top-performing active platform and industry-leading iShares ETF franchise.

“We also delivered 14% year-over-year growth in technology services revenue.”

Fink said the company’s “longstanding approach” to invest for the future positioned its platform to better serve clients, and generate more consistent organic growth.

“In sustainability, we are investing in products, data and analytics and technology to help investors capture the opportunity and manage the risks presented by sustainable factors.

“This is resonating with our clients and we generated $35bn of sustainable net inflows in the quarter.

“Through our wealth and ETF businesses, we are driving the democratization of personalised portfolios at scale.”