BlackRock

Management has deployed capital with a clear, high-ROI strategic lens: building an integrated public-private platform and a data/technology backbone tied to distribution.

The GIP (closed Oct 1, 2024), Preqin (closed Mar 3, 2025), and HPS (closed Jul 1, 2025) transactions create a scaled infrastructure and private credit franchise paired with private-markets data and Aladdin, which should compound fee durability and cross-sell.

Execution risk exists in integration, carried-interest alignment, and performance-fee cyclicality, but the industrial logic is strong. Importantly, the firm kept returning capital via rising dividends (most recently 5.21 dollars per share quarterly in 2025) and buybacks, remaining disciplined on share issuance and leverage.

We view the balance between reinvestment and returns as above average.