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BlackRock invests money for institutions such as pension plans and for individual investors, serving them directly or through financial advisers and other intermediaries. Clients use its funds, including iShares ETFs, and separately managed portfolios to invest across public and private markets. Investment management supplies most of its revenue: clients pay fees tied to the value of their portfolios, and some portfolios also pay fees when returns exceed agreed targets. iShares ETFs account for a large share of its long-term management fees and securities-lending revenue.
Its fee income depends on how much money clients entrust to it, market values and the mix of products they choose, since fee rates differ. Clients can withdraw assets or end management contracts; its US mutual fund and ETF management contracts require annual board approval. Ownership limits across managed portfolios can also prevent BlackRock from buying more of particular investments.
BlackRock also sells institutions and wealth-management firms software that helps them manage portfolios, assess risk and run investment operations. Aladdin generates most of this technology and subscription revenue, typically through long-term contracts that provide recurring fees.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
BlackRock’s fees depend on market valuations and client flows, with privately held Vanguard a key rival to watch in index funds and ETFs.
State Street’s investment-management arm competes with BlackRock for institutions’ index portfolios and ETF investors’ money. Watch those businesses rather than its separate services that hold assets and handle fund accounting for institutions.
Invesco and BlackRock compete to manage investors’ money in ETFs, active funds and alternative strategies, so markets and client flows affect both firms’ fees. Invesco earns higher fees on active equity and alternative products than on ETFs, making the mix of assets it attracts worth watching.
Franklin Templeton and BlackRock both manage client investments and charge mainly against the assets they manage, exposing their fees to the same market and fund-flow pressures. Franklin Templeton’s asset mix matters as well as its total assets, because fee rates differ by asset class.
WisdomTree sponsors exchange-traded investment products across asset classes that compete directly for investors’ money with BlackRock’s iShares. Its sales through banks, brokers and investment advisers put adviser demand for these products in focus.
Blackstone competes with BlackRock’s expanding private-markets business for institutional and wealth investors’ money in alternative investments. Watch its fundraising and gains realized on investments: Blackstone receives a share of fund profits after specified returns, while BlackRock is also drawing money into private credit, infrastructure and private equity.
Brookfield Asset Management competes with BlackRock to invest institutional and private wealth clients’ money in infrastructure, credit, real estate and private equity. Its capital raised and fee-bearing capital are worth watching as signs of demand for the private-market strategies BlackRock is expanding.
Ares Management competes with BlackRock’s enlarged private-credit and real-assets businesses to manage institutional and wealth investors’ money. Its new capital commitments, split between direct institutional investors and intermediaries, offer a concrete view of demand from those client groups.
KKR competes with BlackRock to manage institutional and individual investors’ money in private-market strategies. KKR’s recurring management fees are the relevant revenue line to watch, rather than results from its separate insurance and strategic-holdings businesses.
MSCI supplies indexes that BlackRock funds track and charges for their use, while competing with BlackRock Solutions in portfolio analytics. In 2025, 96.5% of MSCI’s revenue from BlackRock came from fees tied to assets in index-linked ETFs and non-ETF products, making that revenue a close read on those BlackRock assets.
Affiliated Managers Group’s affiliated firms compete with BlackRock to manage client money in active equities, liquid alternatives and private markets. Watch assets in those strategies rather than AMG’s total alone, since these are the areas of overlap.
Federated Hermes competes with BlackRock to manage institutions’ cash through money-market funds, with clients paying fees mainly based on assets managed. Its money-market assets are the clearest line to watch for demand in BlackRock’s cash-management market.
Charles Schwab’s own ETFs and money-market funds compete for investors’ money with BlackRock’s iShares and cash-management products.
Goldman Sachs competes with BlackRock for fees from managing assets and taking investment decisions on behalf of large institutions. Its Asset & Wealth Management fees are the relevant comparison, rather than its investment-banking or trading revenue.
Morgan Stanley’s Investment Management business competes with BlackRock to manage money for institutional and retail clients worldwide. Watch that segment’s investment performance and pricing, which Morgan Stanley identifies as factors in winning and retaining business.
Carlyle competes with BlackRock for investors’ money allocated to private equity and credit, investing through funds and lending products. Its fundraising in Global Private Equity and Global Credit is the relevant news to watch for competition with BlackRock’s private-markets business.
SEI competes with BlackRock both to manage institutional investments and to sell technology and services that run investment operations. Technology and operations outsourcing supplied about 57% of SEI’s 2025 revenue, making that line especially relevant to BlackRock’s Aladdin business.
SS&C competes with BlackRock’s eFront for private-market software customers and also sells investment accounting and analytics services that overlap with BlackRock’s offerings. Its private-market investor-portal sales and software subscriptions are worth watching for investment managers’ spending in this area.
FactSet competes for investment firms’ subscription spending with BlackRock’s Aladdin in portfolio analytics and Preqin in investment data. Its portfolio analytics and data subscriptions are the relevant offerings to watch as BlackRock combines private-market data with its investment software.
Morningstar’s PitchBook competes with BlackRock’s Preqin for private-market data subscribers, while its investment tools overlap with Aladdin. Watch PitchBook’s subscriptions for the closest comparison with BlackRock’s private-market data business, rather than Morningstar’s company-wide results.
Corebridge Financial is a paying customer of BlackRock, outsourcing investment portfolios under agreements that provide management, research and tactical strategies. Changes to those mandates are the direct news to watch for BlackRock’s insurance-client assets and management fees.
MSCI, Inc. earningsMSCI
MSCI’s report will show whether assets in BlackRock-linked index products are supporting the fees BlackRock earns from managing those assets.
Focus on MSCI’s asset-linked fees from BlackRock index-linked products and any related asset figures the report provides. If both fees and assets strengthen, those products are supporting BlackRock’s index-management fee base; if both weaken, that base may be under pressure. Fee changes can also reflect pricing, not just asset levels.
SEI Investments Co earningsSEIC
SEI Investments Co’s report will show whether clients are spending more or less on outsourced investment systems and operations, a market where BlackRock’s Aladdin competes.
Look at SEI’s technology and operations-outsourcing revenue and how that business is performing. Growth would show that clients still want outsourced investment operations, but also that there is budget in a market where Aladdin competes. A decline could mean weaker client spending or lost business for SEI; it would not, by itself, prove that BlackRock benefits.
Blackstone Inc. earningsBX
Blackstone’s report will show whether institutional and wealth investors are still committing money to alternatives at a firm competing with BlackRock’s expanding private-markets business.
Separate Blackstone’s fundraising from gains realized on investments. Stronger fundraising would show that it is still attracting capital and competing for private-markets allocations; more realized gains would show that funds are turning investment value into proceeds, not necessarily raising more money. Weaker fundraising would ease one sign of competition, but would not prove that capital is moving to BlackRock.
SS&C Technologies Inc earningsSSNC
SS&C Technologies’ report will show whether investment managers are spending on private-markets software and investor portals in a market where it competes with BlackRock’s eFront.
Focus on SS&C’s private-market investor-portal sales and software subscriptions. If both strengthen, investment managers are still paying for these tools, supporting demand in a market where eFront competes. If they weaken, demand may be cooling, but SS&C’s figures alone cannot show whether customers are switching to eFront.
Morningstar, Inc. earningsMORN
Morningstar’s report will show whether customers are still paying for PitchBook’s private-market data, which competes with BlackRock’s Preqin.
Look at PitchBook subscriptions, not Morningstar’s company-wide results. Stronger subscriptions would show that customers still pay for private-market data, a market with demand and competition for Preqin. Weaker subscriptions could signal slower demand or tougher competition, but cannot establish how Preqin subscriptions are performing.
Federated Hermes, Inc. earningsFHI
Federated Hermes’ report will show whether clients are keeping money in money-market funds, where it competes with BlackRock for cash-management assets.
Look at changes in Federated Hermes’ money-market assets. Rising assets would show stronger client demand for this kind of cash-management product and a larger pool of assets providers compete to manage; falling assets would show weaker demand, but would not prove that money is moving to BlackRock.
WisdomTree, Inc. earningsWT
WisdomTree’s report will show whether investors are buying its exchange-traded products through banks, brokers and advisers, competing for money with BlackRock’s iShares.
Look at WisdomTree product sales and related flows. Stronger demand through these channels would show that investors are still buying exchange-traded products that compete with iShares; weaker demand could signal less appeal for competing products, but would not prove that money has shifted to iShares.
Corebridge Financial, Inc. earningsCRBG
Corebridge Financial’s report will show whether it continues to outsource investment portfolios to BlackRock, supporting BlackRock’s insurance-client assets and related management fees.
Look at Corebridge’s outsourced investment arrangements and whether its BlackRock-managed mandates continue, expand or shrink. Retained or larger mandates would support these insurance-client assets and related fees; reduced or terminated mandates would put that part of BlackRock’s asset and fee base at risk.
