Total assets under management (AUM) of BlackRock from 2008 to 2nd quarter of 2026
Few companies have grown as dramatically as BlackRock. Its total assets under management have climbed from around 1.3 trillion dollars in 2008 to nearly 14 trillion by the second quarter of 2026. This report tracks the total AUM of BlackRock across that whole period. The trajectory has been almost vertical. Each decade has lifted it to new heights. The overall ascent has been remarkably steady and sustained.
The single biggest leap came in 2009, when BlackRock bought the iShares ETF business and tripled in size overnight. The detailed split of these assets is shown in our BlackRock AUM by asset class report, while the wider firm is profiled in our BlackRock statistics and facts overview.
A tenfold climb: total AUM of BlackRock has grown from around 1.3 trillion dollars in 2008 to nearly 14 trillion by 2026. The huge step up in 2009 is the iShares acquisition; the dips in 2022 and early 2026 are market falls.
Since then, BlackRock has grown almost without pause, lifted by rising markets, huge inflows into its index funds, and a string of acquisitions. It has been the largest asset manager in the world since 2009, a dominance examined in our largest asset managers worldwide report.
A note on the data. Year-end and recent quarterly figures are reported actuals from BlackRock filings, but some intermediate quarters are estimated. The second quarter of 2026 is a mid-year estimate, as it had not yet been reported when this was compiled. The broad shape of the data is unmistakable.
BlackRock Total AUM at Key Points
| Period | Total AUM (USD tn) | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | $1.31T | +0% |
| 2009 | $3.35T | +156% |
| 2013 | $4.32T | +14% |
| 2016 | $5.15T | +11% |
| 2018 | $5.98T | -5% |
| 2020 | $8.68T | +17% |
| 2021 | $10.01T | +15% |
| 2022 | $8.59T | -14% |
| 2024 | $11.55T | +15% |
| 2025 | $14.04T | +22% |
| Q1 2026 | $13.89T | -1% |
| Q2 2026 | $14.20T | +2% |
The table lists the total assets under management of BlackRock at key points from 2008 to 2026, in trillion dollars, with the year-on-year change. It shows the 2009 surge, the dips in 2018 and 2022, and the record reached in 2025. Sorting reveals the full picture.
How the iShares Deal Transformed BlackRock AUM
The defining moment in BlackRock history came in December 2009, when it completed the purchase of Barclays Global Investors, including the iShares ETF brand, for about 13.5 billion dollars. Overnight, its AUM jumped from around 1.3 trillion to 3.35 trillion. One deal redrew the entire industry. The balance of power shifted in a day.
This single deal more than doubled the size of BlackRock and made it the largest asset manager in the world, a title it has held ever since. It also handed the firm the iShares business that now dominates the ETF market, as shown in our largest US ETF providers coverage.
Tripled overnight: the December 2009 purchase of Barclays Global Investors and iShares lifted BlackRock AUM from around 1.3 trillion dollars to 3.35 trillion, making it the largest asset manager in the world in a single step.
The acquisition transformed BlackRock from a mainly active, fixed-income manager into the worlds leading provider of low-cost index funds. It was the foundation on which all of the firm later growth was built, a turning point in the history of finance. No acquisition before it had such reach.
BlackRock AUM by Quarter, 2025-2026
The most recent quarters show both the scale and the volatility of BlackRock assets. After ending 2025 at a record 14.04 trillion dollars, AUM dipped slightly to 13.89 trillion in the first quarter of 2026. The record proved hard to hold onto.
The dip came not from clients leaving, the firm actually took in around 130 billion dollars of new money, but from falling markets early in 2026 that reduced the value of its holdings. This sensitivity to markets is a recurring theme in our BlackRock hub.
Record then dip: after hitting a record 14.04 trillion dollars at the end of 2025, BlackRock AUM slipped to 13.89 trillion in Q1 2026 as markets fell, despite 130 billion dollars of inflows, before recovering toward 14.2 trillion.
By the second quarter of 2026, AUM is estimated to have recovered toward 14.2 trillion dollars as markets steadied. The pattern shows how, even for the largest manager, quarterly assets swing with the ups and downs of global stocks and bonds. Markets giveth and markets taketh away. The firm rides every wave they make. Its enormous size only magnifies the swings.
Year-on-Year Change in BlackRock AUM
Looking at the year-on-year change in AUM reveals how uneven the growth has been. Most years have seen solid gains, but several have brought sharp falls when markets dropped. The pattern is one of climbs and stumbles.
The worst year was 2022, when AUM fell about 14 percent as rising interest rates hit both stocks and bonds. Smaller declines came in 2011 and 2018, while the strongest gains came in years like 2019 and 2025, a volatility echoed across our big tech revenue statistics coverage.
Volatile growth: most years brought solid gains, but AUM fell about 14 percent in 2022 and dipped in 2011 and 2018 when markets dropped. The strongest gains came in years like 2019 and 2025.
These swings underline how closely BlackRock fortunes track financial markets. Because most of its assets are invested in stocks and bonds, a good or bad year for markets quickly shows up in the total it manages and the fees it earns. Its results rise and fall with the market. A bad quarter can erase a record fast.
BlackRock AUM Growth by Era
Breaking the period into five-year eras shows steady, powerful growth. In every era, BlackRock has added trillions of dollars to its assets, though the pace has varied. Yet every era ended far above where it began.
The fastest growth came in the most recent era, from 2023 to 2026, when AUM jumped from around 10 trillion to over 14 trillion, helped by strong markets and major acquisitions. The scale of these jumps rivals anything in our biggest companies by value rankings.
Steady, powerful growth: in every five-year era BlackRock has added trillions of dollars. The fastest growth came from 2023 to 2026, when AUM jumped from around 10 trillion to over 14 trillion.
Even the slower eras saw BlackRock grow substantially. The consistency of this expansion, decade after decade, is what has carried the firm from a 1.3 trillion dollar manager to a 14 trillion dollar colossus.
Net Inflows Driving BlackRock AUM
A big part of BlackRock growth has come from net inflows, the new money clients add on top of market gains. These have grown larger over time, reaching a record of around 698 billion dollars in 2025. No rival has ever gathered money so fast. The inflows keep widening its lead.
Most of this money has flowed into low-cost index funds and ETFs, especially the iShares range, reflecting the global shift toward passive investing. The funds drawing the most money are detailed in our largest ETFs by market cap coverage.
Record inflows: net new money has grown over time, reaching a record of around 698 billion dollars in 2025. Most has flowed into low-cost iShares index funds and ETFs, the engine of BlackRock growth.
Strong inflows matter because they grow the firm assets even when markets are flat, and they tend to be sticky, staying invested for years. They are a more reliable source of growth than market gains, which can reverse quickly, as they did in 2022. Sticky money is the firm single steadiest fuel.
BlackRock AUM Milestones
BlackRock has crossed a series of remarkable milestones. It passed 3 trillion dollars in 2009 thanks to the iShares deal, reached 5 trillion in 2016, and crossed 10 trillion for the first time in 2021. Each leap came sooner than the one before. The trillions now pile up quickly.
The latest milestone came at the end of 2025, when BlackRock became the first asset manager in history to manage more than 14 trillion dollars. Each new threshold has come faster than the last, a momentum mirrored in our number of BlackRock funds by region analysis.
Faster and faster: BlackRock passed 3 trillion dollars in 2009, 5 trillion in 2016, 10 trillion in 2021, and became the first manager ever above 14 trillion in 2025. The gaps between milestones keep shrinking.
The shrinking gaps between milestones show how growth has accelerated. It took years to add the early trillions, but in recent times BlackRock has been adding trillions at a pace no other asset manager has ever matched. The acceleration shows no sign of stopping.
How Many Times BlackRock AUM Has Grown
Measured from its 2008 starting point, the growth of BlackRock is staggering. Its assets under management are now more than ten times what they were in 2008, a roughly tenfold increase in under two decades. Few large firms have ever grown so fast. Scale did not slow it down at all.
Much of that multiple came from the single 2009 acquisition, which alone more than doubled the firm, but the rest reflects steady organic growth and rising markets. The compounding of scale is a force seen across our Apple and Google comparison coverage.
Tenfold and counting: measured from 2008, BlackRock AUM is now more than ten times larger, a roughly tenfold rise in under two decades. The 2009 deal alone more than doubled the firm.
A tenfold rise in assets over such a period is extraordinary for a firm already large at the start. It reflects both the power of the shift to index investing and BlackRock skill in positioning itself at the very centre of that shift. Timing and scale together did the rest.
Assets BlackRock Has Added by Era
Looking at how much BlackRock has added in each five-year era shows where the growth has been concentrated. The firm added the most in its two most recent eras, each bringing around 4 trillion dollars of new assets. The recent pace dwarfs the early years. Growth has sped up, not faded.
The 2008 to 2013 era was boosted by the one-off iShares acquisition, while the 2018 to 2023 and 2023 to 2026 eras were driven by booming markets and inflows. The middle years grew more slowly, a pattern detailed in our largest BlackRock multi-asset funds coverage.
Accelerating, not slowing: BlackRock added the most in its two most recent eras, each bringing around 4 trillion dollars of new assets. As the firm has grown larger, it has added assets faster.
The acceleration in recent eras is striking. As BlackRock has grown larger, it has added assets faster, not slower, defying the usual expectation that giant firms struggle to keep growing at pace. Bigger has somehow meant faster, not slower.
BlackRock AUM: Size vs Yearly Growth
Plotting total AUM against its yearly growth rate brings the whole story together. The assets have climbed steadily larger, while the growth rate has swung between strong gains and occasional sharp falls. The two together capture the whole story.
The combination shows a firm that grows powerfully over time but remains exposed to market swings in any single year. This blend of long-run strength and short-run volatility defines BlackRock as an investment. Strength over time, turbulence in any year.
Strength meets volatility: the bars show total AUM climbing steadily larger, while the line shows the yearly growth rate swinging between strong gains and sharp falls, as in 2022. Long-run strength, short-run swings.
For investors, the lesson is that BlackRock long-term trajectory has been relentlessly upward, even as individual years bring ups and downs. Its sheer scale and central role in index investing have kept it growing through every cycle. The long climb has outlasted every dip. Each setback gave way to a new record.
Taken together, the figures tell a remarkable story: the total assets under management of BlackRock have grown more than tenfold since 2008, from around 1.3 trillion dollars to nearly 14 trillion, with the 2009 iShares deal as the great turning point. Everything since has built on that base.
Whether viewed over the long run or quarter by quarter, BlackRock has become a financial colossus. Its assets dip in bad years and surge in good ones, but the long-term direction has been relentlessly upward, and shows little sign of changing.
Frequently Asked Questions: BlackRock AUM
As of the second quarter of 2026, BlackRock manages an estimated 14.2 trillion US dollars in total assets, making it by far the largest asset manager in the world. The firm ended 2025 at a record 14.04 trillion dollars, then dipped slightly to 13.89 trillion in the first quarter of 2026 as markets fell, before recovering. This total has grown enormously over time: in 2008, BlackRock managed only around 1.3 trillion dollars, so its assets have increased more than tenfold in under two decades. The growth has come from rising markets, record inflows into its low-cost index funds, and a series of major acquisitions. BlackRock total AUM is now larger than the annual economic output of every country in the world except the United States and China, underlining the extraordinary scale the firm has reached.
BlackRock grew so big through a combination of one transformational acquisition and decades of steady expansion. The pivotal moment came in December 2009, when it bought Barclays Global Investors, including the iShares ETF brand, for about 13.5 billion dollars. This single deal tripled the firm size, lifting its AUM from around 1.3 trillion to 3.35 trillion dollars and making it the largest asset manager in the world. After that, BlackRock rode the global shift toward low-cost index funds and ETFs, where iShares is the dominant provider, attracting enormous inflows year after year. Rising stock and bond markets lifted the value of its assets further, and more recent acquisitions in private markets, such as infrastructure and private credit, added still more. Together, these forces have grown BlackRock from a mainly active bond manager into a 14 trillion dollar colossus.
The iShares acquisition was the deal that transformed BlackRock into the worlds largest asset manager. In June 2009, BlackRock agreed to buy Barclays Global Investors (BGI) from the British bank Barclays for about 13.5 billion dollars, completing the deal in December 2009. BGI included iShares, then the leading range of exchange-traded funds. The acquisition more than doubled BlackRock assets under management, taking them from around 1.3 trillion dollars to about 3.35 trillion, and instantly made BlackRock the biggest asset manager in the world. Crucially, it also gave the firm a dominant position in ETFs just as passive, index-based investing was about to boom. The iShares business has since become the engine of BlackRock growth, holding trillions of dollars and around a third of the global ETF market. It is widely regarded as one of the most successful acquisitions in financial history.
BlackRock total AUM fell from a record 14.04 trillion dollars at the end of 2025 to 13.89 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, a decline of around 150 billion dollars. Importantly, this drop was not caused by clients withdrawing money; in fact, BlackRock attracted around 130 billion dollars of net new inflows during the quarter. Instead, the fall was due to declining financial markets early in 2026, which reduced the value of the stocks and bonds the firm holds for its clients. Because the great majority of BlackRock assets are invested in markets, a downturn directly lowers the total it manages, even when new money is still flowing in. This illustrates a key feature of the asset management business: AUM, and the fees earned on it, rise and fall with markets. By later in 2026, AUM was estimated to have recovered as markets steadied.
The most BlackRock has ever managed is 14.04 trillion dollars, the record it reached at the end of 2025. This made it the first asset manager in history to cross the 14 trillion dollar mark. The milestone capped a remarkable year in which the firm attracted record net inflows of around 698 billion dollars and completed major acquisitions in private markets. After reaching that peak, AUM dipped slightly to 13.89 trillion dollars in the first quarter of 2026 as markets fell, before recovering toward an estimated 14.2 trillion by mid-year. BlackRock has been setting new records regularly as its assets have grown, crossing 5 trillion dollars in 2016 and 10 trillion in 2021. Given the firm continued strong inflows and the long-term growth of markets, it is widely expected to set further records in the years ahead, though its assets will continue to dip in difficult market years.
BlackRock assets under management have grown more than tenfold since 2008. At the end of 2008, the firm managed around 1.3 trillion dollars; by 2026, that figure had risen to roughly 14 trillion, an increase of more than ten times in under two decades. A large part of this jump came from the single 2009 acquisition of the iShares business, which alone more than doubled the firm size. The rest reflects steady organic growth, driven by the global shift into low-cost index funds, huge net inflows, rising stock and bond markets, and further acquisitions. A tenfold increase is extraordinary for a company that was already very large at the start of the period. It reflects both the power of the move toward passive, index-based investing and BlackRock success in positioning itself at the centre of that shift as the dominant provider of ETFs.
BlackRock total assets under management have fallen in only a handful of years, always because of declining markets rather than clients leaving. The sharpest fall came in 2022, when AUM dropped about 14 percent, from around 10 trillion dollars to 8.6 trillion, as surging inflation prompted central banks to raise interest rates rapidly, sending both stock and bond prices tumbling. Smaller declines occurred in 2011 and 2018, both difficult years for markets. There was also a dip in the first quarter of 2026, when AUM slipped from the end-2025 record as markets fell early in the year. In each case, the decline was driven by falling asset values, not by investors withdrawing money; indeed, BlackRock often took in new money even in its down years. Each time, AUM recovered strongly in the following period, continuing the firm long-term upward trajectory.
BlackRock total AUM of around 14 trillion dollars makes it comfortably the largest asset manager in the world, and its lead has been widening. Its nearest rival, Vanguard, manages around 12 trillion dollars, while the next tier of firms, including Fidelity, UBS and State Street, each manage several trillion. BlackRock has held the top spot since 2009, when the iShares acquisition vaulted it ahead of the competition. What sets it apart is the combination of its dominant index and ETF business, its Aladdin technology platform used across the industry, and its growing presence in private markets following recent acquisitions. The gap between BlackRock and even its closest competitors is measured in trillions of dollars, and its continued strong inflows suggest that gap is more likely to grow than to shrink. Its scale gives it unusual influence over global markets and corporate governance.
BlackRock looks well placed to keep growing over the long term, though its assets will continue to fluctuate with markets in the short term. Several forces support further growth: the ongoing global shift of money into low-cost index funds and ETFs, where BlackRock is the dominant provider; its expansion into higher-fee private markets through recent acquisitions; and the spread of ETF investing beyond the United States. The firm continues to attract huge inflows, including a record 698 billion dollars in 2025. The main risk is its heavy exposure to financial markets: a prolonged downturn would reduce its assets and fees, as happened in 2022 and briefly in early 2026. Over time, however, the structural trends toward passive investing and the long-run rise of markets have repeatedly pushed its assets to new records. Most analysts therefore expect BlackRock total AUM to keep climbing, setting further milestones in the years ahead.
Assets under management, or AUM, is the total market value of all the investments a firm manages on behalf of its clients. For BlackRock, this includes money held in its index and active funds, its iShares ETFs, segregated institutional mandates, cash management products and, increasingly, private-market assets such as infrastructure and private credit. The figure is calculated by adding up the current market value of all these holdings, which means it changes constantly as markets move. AUM rises in two main ways: through net inflows, when clients add more money than they withdraw, and through market appreciation, when the value of the existing holdings goes up. It falls when markets drop or when clients withdraw more than they add. Because most of BlackRock assets are invested in stocks and bonds, its AUM is highly sensitive to market movements, which is why the total can swing by hundreds of billions of dollars from one quarter to the next, as it did in early 2026.
BlackRock annual reports (Form 10-K), 2008-2025 - Source for year-end total AUM.
BlackRock quarterly earnings (Form 8-K), Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 - Source for the record 14.04 trillion and the 13.89 trillion Q1 2026 figure.
BlackRock Investor Relations - Reference for official AUM data.
