BlackRock Inc Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Alex Blostein - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Hi, good morning, everybody. Happy New Year. I wanted to start with the discussion on money motion. That's something we talked about last year as well. As you think about 2025, and taking into account maybe the rates move we had recentl.,Tto what extent does that change the backdrop you're seeing in the marketplace today? And when it comes to more money in motion, what asset class do you guys expect to benefit most in 2025? Thanks.

Question: Craig Siegenthaler - Bank of America - Analyst : Good morning, Larry, (inaudible). Happy New Year, Larry. I hope everyone is doing well. My question is on retirement. So BlackRock is the largest DCIO manager and one of the largest managers of AUM and foreign plans and target date funds, and currently, these strategies have a 0% allocation to alts, but the red sweep in November has many of us debating if alts will break in the retirement channel. So especially given your recent acquisitions of GIP, HPS, I don't know if any firm is better positioned for this team. So we wanted to get your updated prospects on alts finally breaking to the US retirement channel.

Question: Michael Cyprys - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Hey, good morning. Happy New year.

Question: Michael Cyprys - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : It's been a little bit over a month since you announced the HPS acquisition. Just curious here, in terms of the conversations you're having with clients, how that dialogue has evolved given the expanded private credit capabilities that you have, I believe, insurance and private wealth or some of the areas that you were most excited about. Just curious what steps you might take to best maximize that opportunity here as you're thinking about '25. What sort of growth might translate into? And which of the opportunities do you see as more near term versus more medium to longer term?

Question: Mike Brown - Wells Fargo - Analyst : Happy New Year. I wanted to follow up on the expense guidance for the year. So thank you for the core G&A guide. I guess as we think about the contribution from HPS, assuming that mid-2025 closed, how should we think about kind of the guide, including that? And then as we think about the margin, I appreciate that markets and FX are really going to impact the outcome. But could you just give us some thoughts on maybe the puts and takes that we should consider for the margin in '25 relative to '24? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 15, 2025 / 12:30PM, BLK.N - Q4 2024 BlackRock Inc Earnings Call

Question: Ken Worthington - JPMorgan - Analyst : Hi, good morning. Happy New year. Thank you for taking my question. I wanted to piggyback a little bit on Alex's question. What are your thoughts on the outlook for fixed income flows as we look out to the next 12 months? I guess maybe starting, where do you see investors position in fixed income as we begin 2025? And do you get the sense generally that investors are under or over allocated to fixed income broadly? And how do you see those allocations evolving this year? I think you've successfully made the case that the allocation also be increasing. You made the case for a while that the allocations to cash are probably too high. How do we think about this sort of flowing into fixed income allocations for the next 12 months?

Question: Brian Bedell - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Oh, great, thanks. Good morning. Hi. Happy New Year. (multiple speakers) It certainly, yeah. No, thanks. It's I was just thinking, I certainly couldn't imagine you've become what you've become, sitting back in 1999 as a leading fixed income manager at the time, I always knew the strategy was great. But,, the firm is certainly involved, evolved, I think well beyond anyone's expectations. So congrats on that journey.

Question: Brian Bedell - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Yes exactly. It's been a long time for sure. Yes. So maybe just thinking about this evolution of the strategy in alternative and particularly the retail end of that. So, maybe just talk a little bit about your confidence. Clearly, you have a lot of ways to go into the, into retail on the alt side. But your confidence on that building up because, obviously, there's still a lot of roadblocks into growth in those channels. And I know you talked about the 401(k) channel earlier, maybe within that answer, you can comment on your view of the likelihood of safe harbor provisioning in the 401(k) market and the demand from 401(k) plan sponsors to actually adopt alts within their portfolio because clearly it would obviously benefit the the planned participants substantially. So just, I guess, overall, just your confidence on the retail market for alts building in, even in '25 and it's '26% for you include potentially 401(k). REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 15, 2025 / 12:30PM, BLK.N - Q4 2024 BlackRock Inc Earnings Call

Question: Bill Katz - TD Cowen - Analyst : Okay. Thank you very much. Good morning guys. (multiple speakers) Yes, indeed, it goes quick. It goes quick. I remember that IPO conversation. Anyway, thank you for the shout out. It's been a pleasure. Just maybe I don't either one gentlemen, just think about the evolution of the platform than your guidance around buyback. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 15, 2025 / 12:30PM, BLK.N - Q4 2024 BlackRock Inc Earnings Call As your earnings power continues to scale and become more diversified and more durable, how are you thinking about maybe the payout relative to the earnings power? And then how about the allocation underneath that between dividend growth and repurchase? Thank you.