(Reuters) - BlackRock Inc, the world's largest money manager beat third-quarter profit estimates as an improving economy helped boost its assets under management, driving up fee income.
Asset managers have benefited from rising global financial markets in recent quarters as investors put money to work, making the most of the post-pandemic economic reopening, driven by progress on vaccinations and strong fiscal and monetary aid.
BlackRock ended the past quarter with $9.46 trillion in assets under management, up from $7.81 trillion a year earlier.
The fund manager's size and reach into every corner of the market, equity, fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives, places it in a favorable position relative to smaller peers, analysts said.
Revenue rose 16% to $5.05 billion, driven by growth in revenue from its technology services segment which offset a drop in performance fees during the quarter.
BlackRock long-term net flows for the quarter stood at $98 billion, same as last year, but organic inflows exceeded the fund manager's 5% target for a sixth consecutive quarter.
"Organic growth was broad-based, spanning our active platform as well as in each of our ETF (exchange traded fund) product categories," BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said.
Adjusted net income rose 19% to $1.69 billion, or $10.95 per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier.
Analysts on average were expecting the company to report a profit of $9.35 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi