BlackRock's Assets Slip Under $6 Trillion After Market Turmoil

(Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, reported quarterly assets under management dipped 5 percent to $5.98 trillion as institutions pulled money from the firm.

Adjusted earnings per share of $6.08 for the period missed estimates of $6.28.

Key Insights

• Institutional withdrawals hampered BlackRock’s results. Full-year total net inflows of $124 billion for 2018 were about 66 percent lower than last year’s record.
• In the quarter, institutions yanked $34.6 billion.
• One bright spot: BlackRock’s iShares exchange-traded fund division reported $81 billion in inflows for the quarter, a record.

Digging Deeper

• The industry is facing headwinds from market volatility and fee pressure.
• BlackRock announced plans to cut 3 percent of its global workforce, or 500 jobs, last week. That’s the firm’s largest round of dismissals since 2016. The firm today reported a $60 million charge for expenses related to the layoffs.
• Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink made some management alterations this month. He named Mark Wiedman, previously the head of BlackRock’s powerhouse exchange-traded funds business, to a new global strategy role. Fink said more leadership changes are coming.

To contact the reporter on this story: Annie Massa in New York at amassa12@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Alan Mirabella

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