BlackRock: assets reached a record $15.5 trillion

BlackRock announced strong financial results for the third quarter of 2026, significantly bolstered by a single hedge fund and gains from cryptocurrency activities. Performance fees amounted to $630 million, $200 million above analysts' estimates. Adjusted earnings per share rose by 38% to $15.93, client inflows totaled $205 billion, and assets reached a record $15.5 trillion. The company's shares rose by about 3% pre-market.

Performance fees more than doubled from $305 million in the second quarter of 2026. The main growth came from hedge fund-type products, which BlackRock calls liquid alternatives: their fees increased from $100 million to $409 million in just one quarter. BlackRock attributes this growth primarily to a single hedge fund, whose results are measured annually, with the period closing in the third quarter. These fees accounted for nearly half of the $668 million increase in the company's revenue compared to the second quarter.

Cryptocurrency investments also proved beneficial. BlackRock recorded an $80 million profit from Securitize, a company that tokenizes funds and stocks on the blockchain. Securitize shares rose by 15% in September following a regulatory exemption announcement in the US. Additionally, BlackRock gained $22 million from Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. A year earlier, the same investment resulted in a $115 million loss. Both profits were driven by valuation increases rather than sales. Circle shares fell by 11% in one day in September, illustrating how quickly these valuations can change. BlackRock reported that high income outside the core business contributed to a 38% increase in adjusted earnings per share, while adjusted operating income grew by 27%.

CEO Larry Fink noted that BlackRock is entering the "seasonally strongest fourth quarter with growing momentum." The next annual measurement of the hedge fund that drove fee growth this quarter is not until the third quarter of 2027. BlackRock did not name the fund in its financial report. The company provided a similar explanation before: in 2020, then-CFO Gary Shedlin mentioned "one hedge fund that measures annually in the third quarter" in connection with fee growth.