Total assets under management (AUM) at the end of the fourth quarter stood at $6.29trn, up 22% from $5.15trn in 2016.
The world’s largest asset manager said its “record” net flows was down to the popularity of its iShares exchange traded funds (ETFs) business, which drove its market share in 2017 and accounted for 28% of its AUM last year.
iShares generated $245bn (£179bn) in net inflows, taking the total AUM of the ETF arm up to $1.7trn.
Laurence Fink, chairman and chief executive officer at Blackrock, said: “Blackrock’s record 2017 results reflect the long-term investments we’ve consistently made in our business to better serve clients. iShares ETFs generated $245bn of full year net inflows, as an increasingly diverse set of institutional and retail clients are using ETFs for asset allocation and alpha generation.
“Investors are using both equity and fixed income ETFs in their portfolios for core and precision exposures and as financial instruments. Investments made in iShares ETFs drove expanded market share in 2017 and enabled us to once again capture the number one share of industry ETF flows globally, in the United States and Europe, and in both equity and fixed income products.”
Blackrock’s full year revenue grew by 12% and its operating income by 15%. Earnings per share rose by $11.19 to $30.23.
