BlackRock is a New York City-based investment management firm. It was founded as a risk management corporation in 1988.
It also served as a fixed-income institutional asset manager at that time. Today, this corporation operates as the largest asset manager in the world. It is managing assets worth $10 trillion.
This corporation has established 70 offices across 30 countries and it entertains clients from 100 countries.
BlackRock has been criticized for its investments in China and anticompetitive behavior, but that didn’t affect its clientele.
It continues to attract more clients seeking the best asset management service in the world.
How Did BlackRock Become the Largest Asset Manager in the World?
Larry Fink co-founded BlackRock with 7 other co-founders in 1988. The goal was to offer the best support for risk management and asset management.
Fink’s team specialized in the mortgage-backed securities market before he established the new firm.
Being the head of First Boston, Fink lost $100 million! It was a terrible experience that encouraged him to develop flawless risk management and fiduciary methods.
BlackRock offered Aladdin in 1999. It assesses and monitors the investor’s portfolios. It can guide seasoned money managers and identify risks before it is too late. Today, many professionals rely on this program for risk assessment.
BlackRock has used technology to improve its services and helped other firms do the same. Thus, it emerged as a trusted asset management firm that gained many clients in the USA and across the globe!
This firm has hired seasoned professionals, who have served as top officials in the US government. Their experience and knowledge help this corporation follow a more realistic approach and analyze risks more effectively.
Not many asset management services provide such experts. Therefore, most clients choose to work with BlackRock and not others!
Many people do not know that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had sought BlackRock’s assistance to manage Bear Stearns and AIG’s assets during the 2007-09 financial crisis. Both could have collapsed if this asset management firm didn’t help them.
This corporation has dealt with all sorts of adversities since its inception. It has managed to provide satisfying support to all the clients.
Therefore, clients from all over the world seek BlackRock’s assistance to manage their assets. It is the best in the business and it can maintain the top position for a long time.
BlackRock Revenue
This firm has recently reported that its profit has increased by 20%. Technical solutions and management fees are the main sources of income for this firm.
It made $1.4 billion during the first quarter and that profit can get much higher this year. The overall revenue rose by 7% and that’s a major achievement for this firm.
BlackRock Competitors
BlackRock competes with the world’s leading asset managers. It also provides technology to make the job easier for other managers and it’s not alone in this field.
The top 10 BlackRock competitors and alternatives include the following:
1. The Vanguard Group
The Vanguard Group is a Malvern Pennsylvania-based investment advisor. This firm is the largest mutual funds provider and it’s the second-largest exchange-traded funds provider.
It also offers variable and fixed annuities, brokerage support, financial planning support, educational accounts, trust, and asset management services.
The Vanguard Group manages $7 trillion in assets and it serves clients across the globe. Being one of the top three index fund managers, this firm performs pretty well in comparison to several other firms.
Its mutual funds are always ranked at the top and that’s what allures investors to The Vanguard Group.
This company offers funds in two classes, which are investor shares and admiral shares. Clients, who want to invest in admiral shares, need a higher minimum investment. They need to spend between $3,000 and $100,000 per fund.
This company has $8.1 trillion in assets under management and it makes around $7 billion annually. Thus, it becomes the top BlackRock competitor!
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2. Fidelity Investments Inc.
This American financial services corporation was founded in 1946. Today, it operates as one of the largest asset managers. It has $11.8 trillion in assets under management, which is much larger than BlackRock and The Vanguard Group.
This company handles a variety of mutual funds and offers brokerage services, investment advice, fund distribution guidelines, index funds, retirement services, life insurance, and other products.
$191 billion net inflows into funds, 32.4 million retail-client accounts, and the hiring of 16,600 new employees show that Fidelity has made a huge profit last year.
It is appointing new employees to improve customer service and prevent clients from switching to other asset management services.
This company faced issues in managing the traffic influx on its systems during the pandemic. Millions of clients sent inquiries and it wasn’t possible to entertain every customer separately.
This firm was managing assets worth $3.8 million in 2020, which increased to $4.48 trillion.
3. Franklin Templeton
Franklin Resources, Inc. along with its subsidiary companies is called Franklin Templeton. It operates as a global investment firm and a multinational holding company.
This firm was established in 1947 in New York City. Founders chose the Franklin Distributors, Inc. name to honor Benjamin Franklin.
This company serves private, institutional, and professional investors and manages assets worth $1.53 trillion! The top management has diversified the company in previous years to provide clients with a broad range of investment solutions.
This company serves clients located across 30 countries and it promises to customize services as per the client’s needs. It has recently acquired Legg Mason, which is a Baltimore-based investment agency.
Franklin Templeton aims to expand its reach to new geographies to entertain more clients. It is one of the top-performing asset management companies in the world with $8.43 billion in revenue generated in 2021!
4. The Carlyle Group
Specializing in managing private equity, private credit, and real assets, the Carlyle Group has $325 billion in assets under management. It serves as multinational alternative asset management, private equity, and finical company.
It is the 2nd largest private equity firm today with 1,575 well-experienced employees. It has established 31 offices across the globe, where it offers all sorts of financial solutions and services.
This company has four main branches that include Corporate Private Equity, Global Credit, Real Asset, and investment solutions. Each department is managed by seasoned professionals who try to deliver exceptional support for the required service.
This company has earned 2.935 billion in 2020 and about $3 billion in 2021. Its top-rated services and seasoned employees can attract more investors seeking major returns and better asset management solutions.
It may not beat BlackRock for several years, but it’ll always be among the top asset management firms and financial solutions providers.
5. Raymond James Financial
It is an independent investment bank that offers investment solutions and financial services to the corporation, individual clients, and municipalities.
Raymond James has subsidiary companies that provide financial planning and investment solutions. Besides, those companies also offer support for asset management and investment banking.
Being one of the largest US-based banking institutions, Raymond James has $1.23 trillion in client assets under management.
This company was founded in 1962 by Robert James. It was Robert A. James Investments at that time and then merged with Raymond & Associates in 1964.
It tried to go public in 1969 when Tom James (Robert James’ son) became the leader. Plans were delayed until 1983 due to market conditions.
This company’s financial report reveals that it had $199.3 billion in financial assets under administration in October 2021.
It is a significant improvement over the total financial assets under administration in October 2020.
6. Blackstone Inc.
Blackstone was established in 1985, by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman. It was a mergers and acquisitions company at that time.
Today, it became one of the largest alternative investment management companies in the USA. This company has $880 billion worth of total assets under management today.
This company’s private equity business has been the key player in leveraged buyouts for the past three decades. It has also made a profit by acquiring and selling commercial real estate.
Private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and credit departments generate huge profits for this company.
Private Equity International has offered Blackstone the top position in 2019 as the largest private equity firm. This firm has invested in the world’s leading real estate investment companies through which it gains significant profit.
Blackstone’s net income was $12.375 billion in 2021 and it was managing assets worth $880.9 billion.
Therefore, it has been a major rival to Blackrock and other leading asset management companies.
7. Schroders
This British asset management company has been in service since 1804. It has employed over 5,000 people across America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
This company has established 32 offices across the globe and its headquarters are located in London, UK.
Being the leading British asset and wealth manager, Schroders offers a wide range of investments to its clients.
Those investment options are prepared to meet the specific needs of wealthy investors, institutions, and intermediaries.
This company has been one of the leading asset managers for more than 200 years. It has maintained the trust and loyalty of investors searching for profitable investment opportunities.
This company has had £615.2 billion in assets under management by the end of 2021.
Those assets belonged to many corporations, public authorities, insurance firms, pension funds, charities, and other organizations.
8. Capital Group
Being one of the oldest and largest investment management companies, Capital Group has more than $2.6 trillion in assets under administration.
It was founded in 1931 and today it operates as a privately held investment management company. This company has established offices across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australia.
Capital Group provides products designed to actively manage over 40 mutual funds. It usually assigns 3-13 managers for financial research and on-the-ground due diligence. This company’s three independent departments focus on equities.
Those departments are Capital Research Global Investors, Capital World Investors, and Capital International Investors. Capital Fixed Income Investors only focus on bonds!
This company has more than 7,500 employees and it has made $7.6 billion in revenue by 2020. Statistics are not available for 2021, but this company has performed pretty well in comparison to several investment management firms.
Therefore, Capital Group is considered one of the top BlackRock competitors!
9. Jane Street Capital
With $303 billion in assets under management, Jane Street Capital is one of the leading asset management firms.
It operates as a quantitative trading firm and is considered one of the leading market-makers in the world.
This firm was trading securities worth $17 trillion in 2020. Experts believe Jane Street has played a major role in keeping bond ETFs liquid during 2020’s market turmoil!
It builds technically advanced systems through which transactions worth billions of dollars flow daily.
Institutional clients can access Jane Street’s principal liquidity via a variety of services. This company is active in more than 5,000 ETFs across the globe.
It consistently refines its quantitative models to offer order-book liquidity in more than 45 countries. Being a major player in exchange-traded funds, Jane Street has experienced a significant improvement in its annual revenue.
Its revenue increased by 54% in 2021. This firm made $10.6 billion this year and that revenue can increase more by the end of 2022.
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10. Wellington Management
This independent investment management company has $1 trillion in client assets under management. This Boston-based investment manager firm serves more than 2,200 institutions.
Those institutions are located in more than 60 countries and they rely on this firm for the best investment guidance.
Many pension funds, central banks, endowments, sovereign institutes, fund sponsors, family offices, financial intermediaries, insurance firms, and wealth managers chose Wellington Management to manage their assets.
It was founded in 1928 and it has never disappointed clients with poor investment decisions.
This firm has 2,464 employees and their average market experience is 17 years. This firm has structured the organization, ownership model, and investment platform differently than its rivals.
This company’s revenue/employee ratio is $401,526 and its peak revenue in 2021 was $894.2 million!
It is a trusted asset management firm and it has made the competition tougher for the leading asset managers in the USA.
