Asset manager
Blackrock (BLK) posted steller earnings, and the stock is up 6%; I mentioned yesterday in the
Mastercard (MA) entry that
Blackrock was behaving incredibly strong of late. Analysts had been targeting $1.17B in revenue and $1.91 in earnings; actual came in very strong on the top line at $1.30B and bottom line solid at $1.94. Most importantly assets under management rose 16%. On top of it, I really like the head honcho, Mr. Fink - everytime I read anything from him or see an interview on CNBC he is level headed, and realistic unlike the pollyannas (or head in sand types) that tend to dominate the financial world. With the buy of Merrill's investment advisory arm last year, Blackrock is now the largest public US asset wealth manager and as the world becomes more rich, wealthy multinationals are going to be seeking out a "soon to be" global brand such as this - so this (to me) yet another an indirect play on global growth & increase in wealth of the upper class. This is also the type of stock that mutual fund managers will be clamoring to have in their fund going forward, since its now a nice sized $22 billion market cap, so I will be happy to hitch a ride on their johnny come lately money inflows into the stock.
From
CBSMarketwatch:
- BlackRock said it saw $149.4 million of performance fees in the third quarter. For the year-to-date period ended Sept. 30, it said assets under management increased $175 billion, or about 16%, including $107 billion worth of new business.
- Adjusted operating margin in third quarter rose to 37.7% from 36.1% a year earlier. (gotta love that)
- "Importantly, BlackRock showed another 'monster' flow quarter, with inflows of $41 billion, about $10 billion more than expected, mostly coming from money market funds," wrote Banc of America Securities analyst Michael Hecht in a research note Wednesday.
- "BlackRock continues posting strong organic growth and showing benefits from its merger with MLIM," wrote Marc Irizarry at Goldman Sachs.
Unfortunately I had sold down this position in anticipation of some pullback in financials - but Blackrock just continued upward and onward. So it is currently a sub 1% position in the fund - but much like Mastercard, it won't be a stock that rises 40% in a month, but a great diversification play and nice stock to form the bedrock of the fund. I will look to add more on the next significant pullback.
Long Blackrock in fund; no personal position
