Company Reports

For much of the past two decades, we've bemoaned the fortunes of the US-based traditional asset managers, noting that they would face significant secular headwinds (from aging baby boomers to the growth of passive investing) and cyclical headwinds (leading to more-volatile equity and credit markets) that would pressure their top and bottom lines. Regulatory changes around the globe aimed at increasing transparency around fees and performance, as well as pushing for a greater degree of fiduciary responsibility in retail-advised relationships, have only raised the hurdles for the US-based traditional asset managers we cover. With the gatekeepers for retail intermediary platforms also becoming much more focused on fees and performance when deciding what products to place on their platforms, the industry is facing fee and margin compression as active asset managers are expected to not only narrow the spread between the management fees charged for their funds and the fees attached to index-based products but spend more heavily to improve investment performance and enhance product distribution.

For much of the past two decades, we've bemoaned the fortunes of the US-based traditional asset managers, noting that they would face significant secular headwinds (from aging baby boomers to the growth of passive investing) and cyclical headwinds (leading to more-volatile equity and credit markets) that would pressure their top and bottom lines. Regulatory changes around the globe aimed at increasing transparency around fees and performance, as well as pushing for a greater degree of fiduciary responsibility in retail-advised relationships, have only raised the hurdles for the US-based traditional asset managers we cover. With the gatekeepers for retail intermediary platforms also becoming much more focused on fees and performance when deciding what products to place on their platforms, the industry is facing fee and margin compression as active asset managers are expected to not only narrow the spread between the management fees charged for their funds and the fees attached to index-based products but spend more heavily to improve investment performance and enhance product distribution.

BlackRock ended June 2026 with a record $15.345 trillion in assets under management, or AUM, up 10.4% sequentially and 22.5% year over year. The firm benefitted from strong flows into its ETF platform, with strong equity market gains also lifting managed assets.

With the US equity markets up more than 15% in the second quarter and more than 10% year to date at the end of June 2026, most of the traditional asset managers have positive momentum coming into the second-quarter earnings season.

For much of the past two decades, we've bemoaned the fortunes of the US-based traditional asset managers, noting that they would face significant secular headwinds (from aging baby boomers to the growth of passive investing) and cyclical headwinds (leading to more-volatile equity and credit markets) that would pressure their top and bottom lines. Regulatory changes around the globe aimed at increasing transparency around fees and performance, as well as pushing for a greater degree of fiduciary responsibility in retail-advised relationships, have only raised the hurdles for the US-based traditional asset managers we cover. With the gatekeepers for retail intermediary platforms also becoming much more focused on fees and performance when deciding what products to place on their platforms, the industry is facing fee and margin compression as active asset managers are expected to not only narrow the spread between the management fees charged for their funds and the fees attached to index-based products but spend more heavily to improve investment performance and enhance product distribution.

BlackRock ended the first quarter of 2026 with $13.895 trillion in assets under management, up 19.9% year over year but down 1.0% sequentially. It benefited from strong flows into its exchange-traded fund offerings, offset by market losses during the quarter.

For much of the past two decades, we've bemoaned the fortunes of the US-based traditional asset managers, noting that they would face significant secular headwinds (from aging baby boomers to the growth of passive investing) and cyclical headwinds (leading to more-volatile equity and credit markets) that would pressure their top and bottom lines. Regulatory changes around the globe aimed at increasing transparency around fees and performance, as well as pushing for a greater degree of fiduciary responsibility in retail-advised relationships, have only raised the hurdles for the US-based traditional asset managers we cover. With the gatekeepers for retail intermediary platforms also becoming much more focused on fees and performance when deciding what products to place on their platforms, the industry is facing both fee and margin compression as active asset managers are expected to not only narrow the spread between the management fees charged for their funds and the fees attached to index-based products but spend more heavily to improve investment performance and enhance product distribution.

For much of the past two decades, we've bemoaned the fortunes of the US-based traditional asset managers, noting that they would face significant secular headwinds (from aging baby boomers to the growth of passive investing) and cyclical headwinds (leading to more-volatile equity and credit markets) that would pressure their top and bottom lines. Regulatory changes around the globe aimed at increasing transparency around fees and performance, as well as pushing for a greater degree of fiduciary responsibility in retail-advised relationships, have only raised the hurdles for the US-based traditional asset managers we cover. With the gatekeepers for retail intermediary platforms also becoming much more focused on fees and performance when deciding what products to place on their platforms, the industry is facing both fee and margin compression as active asset managers are expected to not only narrow the spread between the management fees charged for their funds and the fees attached to index-based products but spend more heavily to improve investment performance and enhance product distribution.

BlackRock ended December 2025 with a record $14.042 trillion in assets under management, up 21.6% year over year and above our estimate of $13.966 trillion. The firm continues to benefit from flows into its passive offerings as well as ongoing market gains.

For much of the past two decades, we've bemoaned the fortunes of the US-based traditional asset managers, noting that they would face significant secular headwinds (from aging baby boomers to the growth of passive investing) and cyclical headwinds (leading to more-volatile equity and credit markets) that would pressure their top and bottom lines. Regulatory changes around the globe aimed at increasing transparency around fees and performance, as well as pushing for a greater degree of fiduciary responsibility in retail-advised relationships, have only raised the hurdles for the US-based traditional asset managers we cover. With the gatekeepers for retail intermediary platforms also becoming much more focused on fees and performance when deciding what products to place on their platforms, the industry is facing both fee and margin compression as active asset managers are expected to not only narrow the spread between the management fees charged for their funds and the fees attached to index-based products but spend more heavily to improve investment performance and enhance product distribution.

BlackRock ended September with a record $13.464 trillion in managed assets, up 17.3% year over year and above our estimate of $13.054 trillion. The company continues to benefit from flows into its passive offerings as well as ongoing market gains.

For much of the past two decades, we've bemoaned the fortunes of the US-based traditional asset managers, noting that they would face significant secular headwinds (from aging baby boomers to the growth of passive investing) and cyclical headwinds (leading to more-volatile equity and credit markets) that would pressure their top and bottom lines. Our thesis for the group has regulatory changes around the globe increasing transparency around fees and performance, as well as pushing for a greater degree of fiduciary responsibility in retail-advised relationships, which would raise the hurdles for the US-based traditional asset managers we cover. With the gatekeepers for retail intermediary platforms also becoming much more focused on fees and performance when deciding what products to place on their platforms, the industry will face fee and margin compression as active asset managers are expected to not only narrow the spread between the management fees charged for their funds and the fees attached to index-based products but spend more heavily to improve investment performance and enhance product distribution.

BlackRock ended June 2025 with a record $12.528 trillion in managed assets, up 17.7% year over year. Second-quarter revenue increased 12.9% year over year on higher average AUM and slightly higher fee rates. Adjusted operating margins declined 80 basis points year over year to 43.3%.

BlackRock announced on July 7 that it will acquire ElmTree Funds, a net-lease real estate investment firm with $7.3 billion in total managed assets at the end of March, with the aim of expanding its footprint in private markets.

BlackRock laid out targets for 2030 at its 2025 investor day, including $35 billion in revenue and $15 billion in operating income. Management believes this should translate into a doubling of the firm's market capitalization to $280 billion.

For much of the past 15 years, we've bemoaned the fortunes of the US-based traditional asset managers, noting that they would face significant secular headwinds (from aging baby boomers to the growth of passive investing) and cyclical headwinds (leading to more-volatile equity and credit markets) that would pressure their top and bottom lines.

BlackRock ended March 2025 with a record $11.584 trillion in assets under management, or AUM, up 0.3% sequentially and 10.6% year over year. First-quarter revenue increased 11.6% year over year on higher average AUM and fee rates, with adjusted operating margins improving from 42.2% to 43.2%.

Share prices of US-based traditional asset managers like BlackRock and T. Rowe Price are down more than 6% on average on April 3 as the markets react negatively to the Trump administration's global tariffs. While this has made some of the names we cover more approachable, we remain cautious.

The share prices of traditional and alternative US-based asset managers have retreated year to date due to rising uncertainty about the equity and credit markets tied to fiscal, tariff, and monetary policies, as well as economic growth. This has made some of the names we cover more approachable, but we remain cautious.

While the threat of tariffs on Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese imports has roiled the equity markets this week, it has not been the only news to impact the traditional asset managers in our US-based asset manager coverage, as Vanguard's decision to cut fees on around one quarter of its mutual funds, ETFs, and money market funds (which collectively held $9.2 trillion in assets under management, or AUM) at the end of 2024 has only added to their woes.