BlackRock, Inc.

BlackRock, Inc. is a leading publicly traded investment management firm operating in a global marketplace impacted by changing market dynamics and economic uncertainty. The Company provides a broad range of investment management and technology and subscription services to institutional and retail clients worldwide, with approximately 24,900 employees in more than 30 countries serving clients in over 100 countries. The Company is highly regulated and manages its clients' assets as a fiduciary, and does not engage in proprietary trading activities that could conflict with the interests of its clients.

BlackRock's differentiated competitive position is built on a longstanding model of client choice, a focus on strong investment performance, research data and analytics, global reach with approximately 60% of employees outside the US, differentiated client relationships, and a longstanding commitment to innovation and technology services. The Company is an independent, publicly traded company with no single majority shareholder and over 80% of its Board of Directors consisting of independent directors. Management seeks to deliver value for stockholders by capitalizing on these competitive advantages, including positioning toward secular shifts to ETFs, growing allocations to private markets, increasing demand for outsourcing and whole portfolio solutions, and continued development of technology products including Aladdin, Aladdin Wealth, eFront, Preqin, and Cachematrix.

BlackRock generates revenue primarily through investment management fees typically earned as a percentage of assets under management (AUM), performance fees on certain portfolios relative to an agreed-upon benchmark or return hurdle, securities lending revenue on some products, and technology and subscription services including its proprietary Aladdin investment system, risk management, outsourcing, advisory and other services. Revenue for technology services may be based on several criteria including value of positions, number of subscriptions, implementation go-lives and software solution delivery and support. The Company serves a diverse mix of institutional and retail clients globally, including tax-exempt institutions, official institutions, taxable institutions, and retail intermediaries.

BlackRock's product offerings include single- and multi-asset portfolios investing in equities, fixed income, private markets, liquid alternatives, digital assets, currencies and commodities, and money market instruments. Products are offered directly and through intermediaries in a variety of vehicles including open-end and closed-end mutual funds, iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs), separate accounts, collective trust funds and other pooled investment vehicles. At December 31, 2025, total AUM was $14.0 trillion ¹, representing a CAGR of 10% over the last five years. Equity AUM totaled $7,793,875 million ², fixed income AUM was $3,272,021 million ³, multi-asset AUM was $1,223,625 million ⁴, alternatives AUM was $423,614 million ⁵, digital assets AUM was $78,435 million ⁶, currency and commodities AUM was $169,216 million ⁷, and cash management AUM was $1,080,732 million ⁸.

BlackRock is the leading ETF provider in the world with $5.5 trillion ⁹ of iShares ETF AUM as of December 31, 2025, generating ETF net inflows of $527 billion ¹⁰ in 2025. The Company's alternatives products fall into two main categories: private markets (infrastructure, private credit, private equity, real estate and multi-alternative solutions) and liquid alternatives (direct hedge funds and hedge fund solutions). In 2025, private markets generated $40 billion ¹¹ of net inflows and saw realizations of $30 billion ¹². The Company's technology and subscription services include Aladdin, Aladdin Wealth, eFront, Preqin, and Cachematrix, as well as advisory services and solutions to a broad base of institutional and wealth management clients.

On July 1, 2025, BlackRock completed the acquisition of 100% of the business and assets of HPS Investment Partners (the "HPS Transaction"), a leading global credit investment manager, with substantially all consideration paid in Class B-2 common units of BlackRock Saturn Subco, LLC. Concurrent with the acquisition, BlackRock Finance, Inc., Global Infrastructure Management, LLC ("GIP"), HPS, and their respective subsidiaries became wholly owned subsidiaries of Subco. The HPS Transaction added $165 billion ¹³ of client AUM and $118 billion ¹⁴ of fee-paying AUM in July. The completed acquisitions of HPS, GIP and Preqin position the Company's platform ahead of evolving client needs and structural industry trends.

For the fiscal year 2025, total revenue was $24,216 million ¹⁵, compared to $20,407 million ¹⁶ in 2024. GAAP operating income was $7,045 million ¹⁷ and GAAP operating margin was 29.1% ¹⁸. Net income attributable to BlackRock, Inc. was $5,553 million ¹⁹ and diluted earnings per common share was $35.31 ²⁰. On an as adjusted basis, operating income was $9,600 million ²¹, operating margin was 44.1% ²², net income attributable to BlackRock, Inc. was $7,736 million ²³, and diluted earnings per common share was $48.09 ²⁴.

A key growth vector is the secular shift to ETFs, with BlackRock generating ETF net inflows of $527 billion ²⁵ in 2025. The Company's iShares ETF platform is the leading ETF provider in the world with $5.5 trillion ²⁶ of AUM. Another major growth vector is the growing allocation to private markets, including infrastructure and private credit. The acquisitions of HPS, GIP, and Preqin position the Company to serve clients more comprehensively and raise significant private capital. At year-end, BlackRock had approximately $91 billion ²⁷ of non-fee paying, unfunded, uninvested commitments to deploy, primarily for institutional clients, which are not included in AUM but are expected to generate fees as capital is deployed over time.

Another growth vector is the increasing demand for outsourcing and whole portfolio solutions using index, active and private markets products. Multi-asset net inflows of $72,269 million ²⁸ reflected ongoing institutional demand for BlackRock's solutions-based advice, including $46 billion ²⁹ of net inflows from institutional clients and the funding of several significant outsourcing mandates. Fiduciary management services generated net inflows of $35 billion ³⁰. The Company also highlighted anticipated reallocations to fixed income, demand for high-performing active strategies, interest in sustainable investment strategies, and a continued focus on income and retirement as structural industry trends.

The filing does not contain specific margin trajectory or cost structure evolution targets for the upcoming period. The as adjusted operating margin was 44.1% ³¹ for 2025 compared to 44.5% ³² for 2024. The GAAP operating margin was 29.1% ³³ for 2025 compared to 37.1% ³⁴ for 2024, with the decline impacted by acquisition-related costs and other items.

The filing does not contain specific operational outlook details regarding supply chain posture, manufacturing capacity, or headcount strategy for the upcoming period. The Company had approximately 24,900 employees ³⁵ at December 31, 2025, with approximately 60% of employees outside the US.

The filing does not contain specific R&D spending levels, capital expenditure plans, share repurchase authorization amounts, or dividend policy figures for the upcoming period.

A structural headwind management explicitly flagged is the impact of changing market dynamics and economic uncertainty, which can significantly affect earnings and stockholder returns in any given period. The Company noted that net flows in institutional index products generally have a small impact on BlackRock's revenues and earnings, and that institutional non-ETF index assignments tend to be very large (multi-billion dollars) and typically reflect low fee rates.

Geographic and macro factors management identified as constraints include the impact of foreign exchange on AUM, with foreign exchange reflecting the impact of translating non-US dollar denominated AUM into US dollars for reporting purposes. The Company also noted that approximately half of BlackRock's equity AUM is tied to international market strategies, including emerging markets, which tend to have higher fee rates than US equity strategies, and that fluctuations in international equity markets have a greater impact on BlackRock's equity revenues and effective fee rate.

BlackRock faces material risks from market valuation changes and economic uncertainty that can significantly affect earnings and stockholder returns in any given period, as the Company's revenue is primarily based on AUM which is sensitive to market movements. The Company's ability to generate new business depends on achieving clients' investment objectives and delivering excellent client service, and failure to do so could impact AUM growth and revenue. The Company is highly regulated and manages client assets as a fiduciary, and regulatory changes or enforcement actions could materially impact operations. The Company's growth strategy relies on successful integration of acquisitions including HPS, GIP, and Preqin, and the ability to raise significant private capital from clients. The Company also faces risks related to foreign exchange fluctuations, as approximately 35% of total AUM is managed for clients domiciled outside the US, and the impact of translating non-US dollar denominated AUM into US dollars for reporting purposes was $220,541 million ³⁶ in 2025.

Management's message emphasizes BlackRock's differentiated competitive position built on client choice, strong investment performance, research and analytics, global reach with approximately 60% of employees outside the US, differentiated client relationships, and commitment to innovation and technology services. The strategic priorities emphasized for the period ahead include capitalizing on secular shifts to ETFs, growing allocations to private markets such as infrastructure and private credit, increasing demand for outsourcing and whole portfolio solutions, and the continued development of technology products including Aladdin, Aladdin Wealth, eFront, Preqin, and Cachematrix. Management also highlights the completed acquisitions of HPS, GIP and Preqin as positioning the Company's platform ahead of evolving client needs and structural industry trends. The filing does not contain specific forward-looking guidance ranges from management.