BlackRock Q4'22 Call on Cash
BlackRock hosted its latest "Q4'22 earnings call last week (see the Seeking Alpha transcript here), which briefly mentioned money market funds. CFO Gary Shedlin comments, "During the year, we invested in Circle and became the primary manager of the U.S. DC cash reserves.... BlackRock's cash management platform experienced $32 billion of net outflows in the fourth quarter and $77 billion of net outflows for the year. Despite a particularly challenging year for the broader institutional liquidity industry, BlackRock became the number one international money market provider. And as rates stabilize, we are well positioned to grow market share by leveraging our scale, product breadth, technology, and risk management capabilities." CEO Larry Fink says, "The role of bonds in the portfolio is increasingly relevant. For the first time in years, investors can actually earn very attractive yields without taking much duration or credit risk. Just a year ago, the U.S. two-year treasury note was yielding approximately 90 basis points, and today, they're earning over 4% with corporate bonds earning over five and high-yield earning eight. Clients are coming to BlackRock to help them pursue generational opportunities in the bond market, and our leading $3.2 trillion fixed income and cash platform is well positioned to capture accelerating demand."
