BlackRock's assets under management totaled $4.737 trillion as of March 31, up 2% from three months earlier but down 1% from a year ago, said BlackRock's earnings statement released Thursday.
Net inflows to BlackRock's long-term strategies were $36.1 billion for the first quarter vs. net inflows of $53.9 billion for the fourth quarter. Last year, BlackRock reported net inflows of $70.4 billion for the first quarter of 2015. The inflows were driven by $52.2 billion going to fixed income. Alternatives saw net inflows of $2.15 billion. Meanwhile, multiasset strategies saw net outflows of $566 million, while equities experienced net outflows of $17.7 billion.
The company's institutional business saw long-term net inflows of $12.2 billion for the quarter, compared to net outflows of $13.34 billion during the first quarter and net inflows of $20.8 billion during first quarter of 2015. Assets in BlackRock's institutional business as of March 31 were $2.76 trillion, up 2.4% from Dec. 31 but down 2.7% from March 31, 2015.
BlackRock's iShares exchange-traded fund business experienced net inflows of $24.3 billion, compared to net inflows of $60.2 billion in the previous quarter and net inflows of $35.5 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Assets in the iShares business totaled $1.13 trillion, up 3.7% from three months earlier and up 5.2% from the year-earlier quarter.
BlackRock's global retail business, meanwhile, saw about $359 million in long-term net outflows, compared to net inflows of $7 billion in the fourth quarter and net inflows of $14.17 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
Revenue for the money manager was $2.62 billion in the first quarter, down 8.3% from the previous quarter and down 3.6% from the first quarter of 2015. Net income, meanwhile, was $657 million, down 23.7% from the prior quarter and down 20% from the year-earlier period.
