BlackRock is the world’s largest publicly traded asset manager by assets under management.
BlackRock was founded in 1988 by Larry Fink and partners as a fixed-income and risk-management business. It later expanded into active management, index funds, exchange-traded funds, technology, and institutional investment services.
Its iShares division is one of the largest providers of exchange-traded funds. BlackRock’s Aladdin technology platform supplies portfolio-management, risk-analysis, and trading tools to institutions around the world, although BlackRock’s core business remains managing and administering investments for clients.
BlackRock’s assets under management are client assets, not money owned by the company itself. That distinction matters when comparing it with banks or industrial companies. BlackRock is also sometimes confused with Vanguard, another enormous asset manager, but Vanguard is privately structured and is not a publicly traded corporation. BlackRock’s public listing has helped make it a prominent financial company by market capitalization.