BlackRock Profit Rises On BGI Acquisition

Despite some sizeable outflows, the hedge fund business has continued to prove profitable for BlackRock.

The world’s largest money manager said its third-quarter net income rose 74% to $551 million, easily topping analysts’ expectations. The New York-based firm credited its acquisition in December of Barclays Global Investors, then the world’s 10th-largest hedge fund manager, for the big increase.

Still, at least some former BGI investors seem uncertain about BlackRock. Quantitative funds acquired from BGI suffered $33.9 billion in outflows, roughly half of the $64 billion in redemptions at the firm during the quarter. It is BlackRock’s third straight quarter of net outflows, following those of $33.5 billion and $30.4 billion in the first and second quarters, respectively.

Still, strong performance led to a 9% increase in assets under management to $3.45 trillion. Alternative investments accounted for $4.2 billion of that growth and now make up $105.7 billion of BlackRock’s assets. BlackRock said it suffered $300 million in outflows from alternatives funds due to its merger with BGI.