History

The company was founded in 1988 and was originally part of the Blackstone Group . Its founders were eight people, led by Lawrence Fink . In 1992, the company took the name BlackRock. By the end of this year, assets under management amounted to $17 billion, and by the end of 1994 - $53 billion. In 1995, due to disagreements with Blackstone management, the company was sold to another financial group, PNC Financial Services , for $240 million. In 1998, BlackRock was registered as a corporation, which became public in 1999 (14% was placed on the stock exchange, 16% received by Fink and his partners, 70% remained with PNC). By the end of 1999, the size of assets under management reached $165 billion, and at the end of 2004 amounted to $342 billion. In January 2005, the asset management division of SSRM Holdings, Inc. was purchased from the insurance holding company MetLife for $375 million. In September 2006, BlackRock merged with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, with Merrill Lynch receiving 49.5% of BlackRock's shares from PNC's stake. In December 2009, BlackRock acquired Barclays Global Investors for $13.5 billion, including its iShares group of investment funds .

In 2020, the Federal Reserve selected BlackRock to buy government and corporate bonds and mortgage-backed securities, for which the company was allocated unlimited funds; the bond purchase program was aimed at reducing the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. In May 2020, PNC sold its 22 percent stake in BlackRock for $14.4 billion. In September 2020, BlackRock became the first US investment company to receive permission from the China Securities Regulatory Commission ^to establish a mutual fund in that country (it began operating in August 2021); Before that, the company had a joint venture in China with Bank of China.

In the first quarter of 2021, BlackRock became the largest investor in the SPDR Gold Trust.

Activities

BlackRock is the largest investment company in the world by assets under management. Of the $8.59 trillion at the end of 2022, 4.44 trillion were in stocks, 2.54 trillion in bonds, 685 billion in mixed investments, 266 billion in alternative investments ( private equity , real estate , commodities, hedge -funds ), 671 billion - cash. Institutional investor assets accounted for $4.83 trillion, exchange-traded funds accounted for  $2.91 trillion, and retail clients accounted for $0.85 trillion. Retail clients are served through intermediaries - brokers, branches of banks and insurance companies, independent financial advisers; more than two thirds of such clients are located in America.

The company offers its clients index funds and actively managed investment funds. Index funds invest in securities included in stock indexes ; actively managed funds strive to achieve higher returns than the growth of the stock index, however, such a strategy may be riskier and the company charges a higher fee for it; active management accounted for $2.3 trillion in assets under management. A significant role in the company’s activities is played by the calculation of investment risks using the Aladdin computer network ⁽ an abbreviation for Asset Liability and Debt and Derivatives Investment Network ); analytical services to third-party clients (banks, insurance companies, etc.) brought in $1.4 billion in revenue in 2022; The company's main data center is located in Amherst, New York.

Regions of activity:

• America  - offices in 36 US states, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, 67% of assets under management, 65% of revenue;
• Europe, Middle East and Africa  - offices in the UK, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Ireland, 25% of assets under management and 29% of revenue;
• Asia Pacific  - offices in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China and India, 8% of assets under management and 6% of revenue.

The market value of shares held by all BlackRock subsidiaries listed on the NASDAQ and NYSE stock exchanges at the end of 2022 was $3.37 trillion. These are stakes in 5,567 companies, the largest by value of which were Apple ($155 billion), Microsoft ($136 billion), Alphabet ($73 billion), Amazon ($56 billion), Nvidia ($43 billion), UnitedHealth Group ($36 billion), Tesla ($35 billion), ExxonMobil ($33 billion), Berkshire Hathaway ($33 billion), Johnson & Johnson ($31 billion), Meta Platforms ($28 billion), JPMorganChase ($28 billion), Visa ($28 billion), Mastercard ($23 billion) , Merck & Co ($23 billion), Home Depot ($23 billion), Procter & Gamble ($23 billion), Chevron ($22 billion), AbbVie ($22 billion), Eli Lilly and Company ($21 billion), Broadcom ($19 billion) , PepsiCo ($19 billion), The Coca Cola Company ($18 billion), Pfizer ($18 billion), Thermo Fisher Scientific ($17 billion), Cisco ($17 billion), Bank of America ($16 billion).

BlackRock provides trust management , fiduciary and trust services to institutional clients through subsidiaries, including BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. with assets under management of $2.84 trillion

Financial indicators

Guide

Laurence D. Fink is the founder, chairman of the board of directors  and CEO . Born November 2, 1952 in Los Angeles ( California ), graduated from the University of California . Began his career on Wall Street at the investment bank First Boston  (English)Russian)in 1976, from where he was fired in 1986 when his division lost $100 million due to erroneous forecasts. Since 1988, he has been the permanent leader of BlackRock.
Robert S. Kapito  - founder, president.

Shareholders

BlackRock shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange . Institutional investors at the beginning of 2023 owned 80% of the shares, of which 7% were owned by proprietary funds; other major shareholders were: The Vanguard Group (9.1%), State Street Global Advisors (4.2%), Bank of America ( 3.5%), Temasek Holdings (3.4%), Capital Group Companies (3.3%), Charles Schwab Corporation (2.2%), Morgan Stanley (2.1%), JPMorgan Chase (2.0 %), Wells Fargo (1.8%), Geode Capital Management (1.7%), FMR Co., Inc. (1.6%), Wellington Management Group (1.3%), Northern Trust (1.3%).

Company influence

The Big Three US investment firms (BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street ) topped the lists of shareholders in 88% of the companies included in the S&P 500 index as of 2017 ; In addition, BlackRock is one of the shareholders of the largest corporations in Europe and Asia. Although they are considered passive investors (that is, they only invest client funds in shares), they nevertheless have the right to vote at general meetings of shareholders, in particular, they participate in the appointment of senior management of companies, for which they have teams of specialists. BlackRock holds a blocking stake (more than 5%) in half of the 3,900 publicly traded US companies. In this regard, the company was accused of a large contribution to global climate change - as of 2018, it was the largest holder of shares in oil, gas and coal mining companies. Criticism of the company also stems from the fact that BlackRock is one of the largest shareholders of competing companies (for example, the Big Four US banks).