Downward Angle Icon An icon in the shape of a downward angle. Larry Fink, the company's CEO and co-founder, told investors last year that he had “no plans to leave BlackRock anytime soon.” Spencer Platt/Getty Images BlackRock is the largest asset manager, managing $9.1 trillion as of September. BlackRock, led by its founder, is developing the next generation of management and seeking deals. Here's his latest Business Insider report on BlackRock's management team, funds and more.
BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, managing $9.1 trillion in assets and amassing enormous power through its many funds and prominent CEO and co-founder Larry Fink. The company has gone from being a company primarily known only on Wall Street to one best known to the general public for two things: its massive size and its ESG investments.
BlackRock's dominance as a passive investing giant and vocal advocate for environmental, social, and governance investing has garnered more mainstream attention than ever in recent years.
This led to the spread of conspiracy theories surrounding BlackRock's properties and assets. How does it influence decision making? There are comments made at other companies, presidential candidates who brought up the issue in debates, attacks on Fink personally, and criticism primarily from right-wing politicians who make ESG ridiculous. The company has defended itself against criticism that it acts as a fiduciary and in the best interests of its customers rather than as a political force. Business Insider first reported in August last year that the company was delaying the launch of an ESG fund for more than a year due to this background.
BlackRock manages assets for wealth management, pension plans, insurance companies, governments, and other types of clients. He has 35 million people invested in his 1,300 exchange-traded funds at BlackRock, ranging from sophisticated investors to everyday investors. The company sells powerful portfolio management software called Aladdin, which is used virtually all over Wall Street and manages about $320 billion in so-called alternative assets such as private credit.
At the same time, BlackRock is shaping the next generation of leadership.
Rob Capito, president and co-founder, and Fink lead the New York-based company. BlackRock has made changes and appointments over the past year, hinting at who will replace Mr. Fink and Mr. Capito once they retire.
Business Insider's latest report on BlackRock is your gateway to learning about BlackRock's employees, powerful leadership, deal making, and more.
Do you have any tips about Blackrock? Contact this reporter at rungarino@businessinsider.com, rungarino@protonmail.com or (646) 768-4711 using a non-work phone.
Founder-led BlackRock is shaping the next generation of management.
“I have no intention of leaving BlackRock anytime soon,” Fink said at the company's investor briefing in June 2023, adding, “But for the BlackRock board and me, there is a greater focus on developing BlackRock's next generation of leaders. There are no priorities.”
Business Insider reported that a top group including Mark Wiedman, Martin Small and Rob Goldstein are considered candidates to replace Fink. Insider's exclusive organizational chart shows where these executives and other influential employees sit within the company.
More from Business Insider's report on BlackRock employees:
BlackRock prioritizes private markets.
Managers typically charge much higher fees for overseeing their clients' private market assets than traditional stock and bond funds, of which BlackRock is best known, and Desire is growing.
The company has set a goal of doubling the revenue generated by its private markets business this year and is seeking deals to help it achieve that goal.
BlackRock announced last year that it would acquire a London-based private credit management company. Business Insider previously reported that BlackRock's private credit-focused acquisitions in 2018 led to an increase in assets, but that some senior employees left after dissatisfied with the deal's integration. Reported.
BlackRock last month reshuffled executives overseeing private assets, which are no longer structured as separate units, to foster growth. Mr. Fink suggested last April that this spring's turmoil in the banking sector and resulting market volatility presented a deal opportunity, with analysts listing the alternative as one area BlackRock could explore M&A. Pointed out.
Read more: 'BlackRock has a lot of catching up to do': Why Larry Fink's fund giant is ramping up lending activity
BlackRock, and Fink personally, have become political targets over ESG investing.
BlackRock and Mr. Fink himself have come under intense scrutiny over the firm's climate-conscious investment strategies. Conservative politicians see BlackRock as promoting liberal ideals in the companies owned by BlackRock funds, while progressive politicians see BlackRock as doing enough to fight the climate crisis. He claims to be inactive.
BlackRock often responds by reminding both parties, and investors overall, that it is a fiduciary and is working in the best interests of its clients. Late last year, a small activist hedge fund with a small stake in BlackRock even called on the company to replace Mr. Fink over its approach to ESG investing.
Business Insider reported last March that Fink recanted discussion of sustainability in his annual letter after a year of political attacks. There was also no mention of the term “ESG” at the company's investor day last June, according to a 33,000-word transcript of the event compiled by research firm Centio.
Executives used different language to talk about sustainable investing and spoke at length about “transition capital,” or the opportunity to invest in a low-carbon economy.
Here's more from Business Insider's report on BlackRock's climate focus and ESG investing.
Fink said BlackRock spends a lot of time researching artificial intelligence technology, and the company continues to work on cryptocurrencies.
BlackRock is spending “tremendous time” on AI and how it will “reshape” the company, Fink said last year. BlackRock has been experimenting with AI for several years and five years ago formed a team working on the technology, now called AI Labs.
Fink and Capito said in a memo this week about the 3% workforce reduction that the company will “find new sources of alpha, enhance service to customers, create additional growth engines for Aladdin, We are focusing on “new technology'' to achieve business results.'' It's about streamlining the way we operate. ”
BlackRock is also pushing to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the U.S., even as the crypto sector faces a regulatory crackdown. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this week that it is delaying a decision on the application for a Spot Bitcoin ETF that includes BlackRock.
More from Business Insider's report on BlackRock's technology and digital assets:
