BlackRock's assets under management reached $5.15 trillion as of Dec. 31, up 1% from three months earlier and up 11% from a year earlier, the firm said in its earnings statement released Friday.
Net inflows to the firm's long-term strategies were $87.8 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to net inflows of $55.2 billion in the third quarter and net inflows of $53.9 billion in the year earlier quarter. The inflows were driven by $58 billion going to equities, $25.3 billion to fixed income and $4.9 billion to multiasset strategies. These were partially offset by net outflows of $364 million from alternatives.
BlackRock's institutional business experienced long-term net inflows of $40.9 billion for the quarter, compared to net inflows of $6.2 billion in the third quarter and net outflows of $13.3 billion for the fourth quarter of 2016. Assets in BlackRock's institutional business were $2.91 trillion as of Dec. 31, flat from Sept. 30 but up 7.8% from Dec. 31, 2015.
BlackRock's actively managed institutional strategies saw net inflows of $6.3 billion during the quarter, while passive strategies saw net inflows of $34.6 billion.
BlackRock's iShares exchange-traded fund business saw long-term net inflows of $49.3 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to net inflows of $51.3 billion in the previous quarter and net inflows of $60.2 billion in the year-earlier quarter. iShares assets totaled $1.29 trillion as of Dec. 31, up 3.2% from Sept. 30 and up 18.3% from Sept. 30, 2015.
BlackRock's global retail business saw long-term net outflows of $2.4 billion, vs. net outflows of $2.2 billion in the prior quarter and $7 billion of net inflows in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2015.
The firm's revenue was $2.89 billion in the third quarter, up 2% from the previous quarter and up 1% from the fourth quarter of 2015. Net income was $851 million, down 3% from the prior quarter and down 1% from the same time a year ago.
