BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call October 13, 2023 7:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Christopher Meade - General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer

Martin Small - Chief Financial Officer

Laurence Fink - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Robert Kapito - President

Conference Call Participants

Craig Siegenthaler - Bank of America

Michael Cyprys - Morgan Stanley

Alexander Blostein - Goldman Sachs

Daniel Fannon - Jefferies

Brian Bedell - Deutsche Bank

Brennan Hawken - UBS

Operator

Good morning. My name is Cynthia and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the BlackRock Incorporated Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Teleconference. Our host for today's call will be Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Laurence D. Fink; Chief Financial Officer, Martin S. Small; President, Robert S. Kapito; and General Counsel, Christopher J. Meade. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer period. [Operator Instructions] Thank you.

Mr. Meade, you may begin your conference.

Christopher Meade

Good morning, everyone. I'm Chris Meade, the General Counsel of BlackRock. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that during the course of this call, we may make a number of forward-looking statements. We call your attention to the fact that BlackRock's actual results may, of course, differ from these statements.

As you know, BlackRock has filed reports with the SEC, which lists some of the factors that may cause the results of BlackRock to differ materially from what we say today. BlackRock assumes no duty and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements.

So with that I'll turn it over to Martin.

Martin Small

Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone. It's my pleasure to present results for the third quarter of 2023. Before I turn it over to Larry, I'll review our financial performance and business results. Our earnings release discloses both GAAP and as-adjusted financial results, I'll be focusing primarily on our as-adjusted results.

Rate hikes over the last 18 months mean that for the first time in nearly 20 years, clients can earn a real return in cash. In the short-term, this has benefited many portfolios. Investors have been able to generate positive returns while waiting for inflation to cool and for more policy certainty from central bankers. This weighting has weighed on industry flows, including here at BlackRock, consistent with prior periods of policy uncertainty like 2013, 2016 and 2018.