BlackRock profit jumps as ETF inflows and performance fees surge

BlackRock used a record wave of ETF money and a sharp jump in performance fees to push first-quarter profit higher, underscoring how much the asset manager now depends on products that can earn more than plain-vanilla index funds. Diluted earnings per share came to $14.06, or $12.53 as adjusted, as revenue rose 27% to $6.7 billion and assets under management climbed to $13.89 trillion from $11.58 trillion a year earlier.

The biggest driver was flows. BlackRock took in $130 billion of total net inflows in the quarter, led by a record first quarter for iShares ETFs. The company said ETF net inflows reached $132 billion, including $41 billion into index bond ETFs, while institutional index funds lost $35 billion, concentrated in low-fee index equities. Retail investors added $15 billion, with demand led by systematic liquid alternatives, active fixed income and evergreen private markets. Cash management had $6 billion of outflows tied to seasonal redemptions from U.S. government funds.

That mix matters because it shows where the industry is moving. BlackRock’s long-standing passive-indexing engine is still enormous, but the money is increasingly coming from areas that can carry richer fees, especially active fixed income, bond ETFs, private credit and infrastructure. Performance fees jumped to $272 million from $60 million a year earlier, a reminder that the firm can squeeze more earnings out of markets when trading and asset prices are moving.

Chief Executive Laurence D. Fink used the call to frame the company as more than an index giant. “BlackRock is a scale operator across public markets, private markets and technology,” Fink said, adding that the combination is proving more valuable every day. He also described demand for private credit as “structural,” a sign BlackRock sees the shift away from traditional bank lending as a lasting change, not a temporary cycle.

The private markets push is becoming more important to the balance sheet and the growth story. BlackRock said private markets net inflows totaled $9 billion, mainly in private credit and infrastructure. The firm completed its acquisition of HPS Investment Partners on July 1, 2025, and says the deal helped build an integrated private credit franchise with about $220 billion in client assets. Over the last 12 months, BlackRock said it generated $744 billion of net inflows and 10% organic base fee growth.

Margins also improved. As-adjusted operating margin rose to 44.5%, up 130 basis points from a year earlier, and the margin excluding performance fees and related compensation reached 45.6%, up 180 basis points. BlackRock also repurchased $450 million of stock and raised its quarterly cash dividend 10% to $5.73 per share, signaling confidence that the fee mix can keep improving even as more investors look beyond traditional index funds.