BLK BlackRock Inc

By Dawn Lim 

BlackRock Inc.'s quarterly profit rose 19% as investors turned to the money-management giant's funds through November's election uncertainty, vaccine breakthroughs and a year-end rally.

The investment company posted fourth-quarter profit of $1.5 billion, or $10.02 a share, up from $1.3 billion, or $8.29 a share, a year earlier. BlackRock's revenue rose 13% to about $4.5 billion from roughly $4 billion in the year earlier period.

The firm beat Wall Street analysts' profit and revenue estimates.

The world's largest money manager scaled a new milestone in assets under management, breaching the $8 trillion mark to $8.68 trillion in assets.

The company brought in $126.9 billion in new investor money, down from $128.8 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Many rival companies are expected to lose money in the uncertain economy, struggling to stand out in a competitive industry with smaller scale and less brand recognition.

BlackRock is best known for its iShares funds that trade on exchanges and mirror markets. That business took in $79 billion in new flows in the fourth quarter, up from $75.2 billion in the year earlier period.

CEO Larry Fink has used the firm's scale to undercut the prices of rival funds in popular index strategies while gaining reach in more lucrative corners of finance such as private equity.

Across the board, BlackRock had net flows of $390.8 billion in 2020, down from $428.7 billion in 2019.

Write to Dawn Lim at dawn.lim@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 14, 2021 06:55 ET (11:55 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.