BlackRock Inc. Chairman and CEO Laurence D. Fink spoke on a number of topics at Pensions & Investments' Global Future of Retirement conference — the lack of savings in the U.S., infrastructure, and the moral responsibility of money managers to educate and defend their clients. But he also tackled another topic: music. In particular, his love of music, his previous investment work with record labels and his favorite bands.
Speaking at the conference on June 16, Mr. Fink explained that, several years ago, he invested in a record company. The name of that company was Octone Records and, Mr. Fink noted, “it happened that the first band that they signed was Maroon 5.”
“A little band,” he joked.
Mr. Fink admitted to not being musically inclined — he doesn't play any instruments, he doesn't sing — but said music is very important to him.
He talked about some of his favorite indie bands, including The National (“a great Brooklyn band”), Of Monsters and Men and The War on Drugs.
Although Mr. Fink is not directly involved in this project, it was reported in April that BlackRock Alternative Investors was providing seed capital for Alignment Artist Capital, a new company that offers financing to music professionals looking to expand their brands. The company was co-formed by James Diener, former president and CEO of Octone Records.
