Forays into the alternative investments space, including the purchase of an infrastructure manager this year and data provider Preqin, provided a buoyant backdrop for the US asset manager's Q2 results.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager which recently pushed further into the alternatives space with its Preqin purchase, last week reported adjusted second-quarter 2024 net income of $1.55 billion, up from $1.399 billion in the same three months of 2023. 

The operating margin, adjusted, rose to 44.1 per cent from 42.5 per cent, BlackRock said in a statement. 

Revenue, on a GAAP accounting basis, rose to $4.805 billion from $4.463 billion.

Assets under management rose to $10.645 trillion from $9.425 trillion; total net inflows rose to $81.6 billion in the latest quarter, up from $80.1 billion a year ago. 

“BlackRock is executing on the broadest opportunity set we’ve seen in years, including in private markets, Aladdin, and whole portfolio solutions across both ETFs and active. At the same time, we are opening up meaningful new growth markets for our clients and shareholders with our planned acquisitions of Global Infrastructure Partners and Preqin,” Laurence Fink, CEO, said.

Aladdin is a portfolio management software which allows investment professionals to view and manage daily investments. As for Preqin, this is a provider of data on alternative investments such as private equity, venture capital, private credit, hedge funds and property.  A few days ago, BlackRock announced that it had agreed to buy Preqin. Earlier this year, it also bought Global Infrastructure Partners in a deal signalling the firm’s ambitions to expand capabilities in the infrastructure space.)