BlackRock Third-Quarter Net Inflows Unexpectedly Rise on Strong Institutional Demand

01:05 PM EDT, 10/14/2026 (MT Newswires) -- BlackRock (BLK) reported an unexpected increase in third-quarter net inflows Wednesday, driven by strong institutional demand and retail inflows. The asset manager's net inflows grew 0.4% year over year to $205.47 billion in the September quarter. Three analysts polled by FactSet expected $180.4 billion. Within institutional, active inflows more than doubled year-over-year to $44.45 billion from $22 billion in the third quarter last year, while index outflows increased to $27.44 billion from $14 billion. "Institutional active net inflows of $44 billion were positive across all product types and were led by strength in private markets, fixed income, systematic equities and liquid alternatives," Chief Financial Officer Martin Small said during an earnings conference call, according to a FactSet transcript. BlackRock's retail long-term business inflows surged 133% to $23.3 billion annually in the third quarter, while exchange-traded funds long-term inflows dropped 12% to $134.51 billion. Long-term net flows increased to $174.81 billion from $171 billion, while cash management net flows decreased to $30.65 billion from $34 billion. The global asset manager reported a 15% year-over-year gain in assets under management to about $15.488 trillion, compared with Wall Street's expectations of $15.522 trillion. Ahead of the results, UBS Securities forecast third-quarter long-term net inflows of $166 billion, including $65 billion in iShares fixed-income inflows and $51 billion in iShares equity inflows. "The competition for capital is growing between the federal deficits, which are at our record levels," BlackRock Chief Executive Laurence Fink said on the call Wednesday. "It means we're going to have structurally higher interest rates for longer, and especially out the curve and I think that's going to be with us." The company posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of $15.93 a share, up from $11.55 a year earlier and topping the Street's view for $14.32. Revenue advanced 19% to $7.75 billion, also ahead of analysts' estimates of $7.42 billion. Asset management firms Blackstone (BX) and Ares Management (ARES) are scheduled to report earnings later this month, while Apollo Global Management (APO) and KKR (KKR) report in November. Price: 1068.50, Change: +2.38, Percent Change: +0.22