BlackRock Managing 2 Quadrillion Won: From ETF King to Alternative-Investment Giant

[Financial News] The assets under management of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, have surpassed 2 quadrillion won.
In its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings report released on the 15th (local time), BlackRock announced that its total assets under management (AUM) stood at 14 trillion dollars (approximately 2 quadrillion 500 trillion won) as of the end of 2024, up 22% from a year earlier. Net inflows for the year reached 698 billion dollars, of which 344.2 billion dollars flowed in during the fourth quarter alone.
The main driver of this growth was Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF). BlackRock’s ETF division recorded net inflows of 527 billion dollars (about 770 trillion won) last year, leading the expansion of its assets under management. As a result, ETF assets under management reached about 5.5 trillion dollars at the end of last year, accounting for 39% of the firm’s total AUM.
BlackRock has established itself as the dominant player in the global ETF market since acquiring the ETF business, including the iShares brand, from Barclays in 2009. It is widely credited with effectively driving the growth of the ETF market by championing a low-cost, large-scale passive investment strategy.
Although its share of total assets under management is still relatively small, the private market business is also expanding rapidly. Revenue from BlackRock’s private market segment reached 2.4 billion dollars last year, doubling from 1.2 billion dollars in 2023. With surging demand for investments in digital infrastructure related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), including data centers, the company is seen as securing a new growth engine in the private market as well.
BlackRock has made it clear that it aims to replicate in the private market the successful model it built in the ETF business. To this end, in 2024 it acquired Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), known for its strength in infrastructure investments, for 12.5 billion dollars (about 18 trillion won), and subsequently brought HPS Investment Partners, a firm specializing in private credit, into its fold.
Alongside its global expansion, the company is also stepping up its push into Asian markets. In September last year, BlackRock signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of South Korea to establish a broad framework for large-scale investments in AI and renewable energy infrastructure in the country. The move is interpreted as a signal that the firm intends to actively pursue investments in digital and energy infrastructure backed by global capital.
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km@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-min Reporter