ACTIVE INVESTING

An “always on” approach to finding the best investing opportunities

Finding the best investing opportunities can be challenging, especially in volatile markets. Our active investors – across all asset classes, regions, and sectors – are always searching for investing opportunities that can empower people to build savings, accrue wealth, and meet the financial goals that matter most to them.

MEET THE EXPERTS

Born from a healthy curiosity

Combining the advantages of our “always-on” active investing platform to find alpha with our culture of collaborative intelligence gives our team the conviction needed to follow through on meaningful investment ideas. Watch some of our active investing leaders discuss their roles at BlackRock.

Rick Rieder

Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income

Carrie King

Global Deputy CIO of Fundamental Equities

Jeff Shen

Co-Chief Investment Officer and Co-Head of Systematic Active Equity

Michael Gates

Head of Model Portfolio Solutions in the Americas, Lead Portfolio Manager for BLK Target Allocation Portfolios

I’m up at 3:45 every morning. I want to know where all the markets are. I work out for an hour then the day really gets going.

I’m Rick Rieder, Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income at BlackRock.

So my job is investing money for clients trying to generate returns using fixed income assets within portfolios. From being in this business for 35 years, you learn you got to be thoughtful, you got to innovate, you got to be different, and then apply that to the experience you have and the research that you’re doing.

Education for me is literally the foundation of everything. I’m chairman of the board of North Star Academy. It’s over 14 charter schools, serving 6,000 kids in the city of Newark. We started an internship program to bring high school kids in to help them with not just understanding markets, the economy, finance, but also understanding how you interface in business. We’re helping to change the future of thousands of underserved kids.

It gives you a real boost to see the difference you can make.

There’s a lot to do in a day, but when you start to see what you can get done, I think it’s safe to say that I won’t look back and wish I had slept more.

I’m up at 3:45 every morning. I want to know where all the markets are. I work out for an hour then the day really gets going.

I’m Rick Rieder, Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income at BlackRock.

So my job is investing money for clients trying to generate returns using fixed income assets within portfolios. From being in this business for 35 years, you learn you got to be thoughtful, you got to innovate, you got to be different, and then apply that to the experience you have and the research that you’re doing.

Education for me is literally the foundation of everything. I’m chairman of the board of North Star Academy. It’s over 14 charter schools, serving 6,000 kids in the city of Newark. We started an internship program to bring high school kids in to help them with not just understanding markets, the economy, finance, but also understanding how you interface in business. We’re helping to change the future of thousands of underserved kids.

It gives you a real boost to see the difference you can make.

There’s a lot to do in a day, but when you start to see what you can get done, I think it’s safe to say that I won’t look back and wish I had slept more.

EXPERTISE

We actively seek to extract the news from the noise

The portfolio managers, quantitative researchers, risk analysts, traders, data scientists, and developers who make up our global active investing teams are well versed in making informed and accurate investing decisions.

2800

Over 2800 active investment professionals across all asset classes

715

715 global research analysts sharing insights with the firm

700

Over 700+ investors attend a daily global meeting each week on average to debate investment views

"Active management is about studying history, studying the current data, but then adding judgment to that. Because data and history don't see around corners. Human judgment does. That is how we can add value as active investors."

Tony DeSpirito Chief Investment Officer, Fundamental Equities

BALANCING RISK AND REWARD

We identify and manage risk for our clients in all market environments

On-screen question: Why is it important to stay invested for the long run despite short term market fluctuation?

If you’re running a business with a long history of profitability, you don’t shut down when you see clouds roll in. You make calculated adjustments while staying focused on long term value creation.

It’s the same thing with building wealth. When you look at financial history, the long-term effects of staying invested are clear.

BlackRock’s active management strategies use the best available analysis and historical insights to drive toward targets down the road.

As volatile market moves or economic events change the shape of the road, we use our active management tools to guide the portfolios back toward their targets.

That’s what we do for our clients every day. We’re staying confidently focused and invested for the long haul.

Focused on the long term

We work only for our clients. Our promise is to give them insight into what to do with their money, providing products and services that can help them build a better financial future.

On-screen question: Are drawdowns a good time to buy?

Disclosure: There is no guarantee that positive results will occur and may incur a loss.

Drawdowns can actually be a great time to buy, provided you have strong conviction in a company’s fundamentals. When it comes to the stock market, a rising tide can lift all boats.

Disclosure: For illustrative purposes: no guarantee positive results will occur and may incur a loss.

But when the tide drops, those boats can go with it. As equity investors, we’re opportunistic. We see through the storm.

Disclosure: For illustrative purposes: no guarantee positive results will occur and may incur a loss.

We know that stock prices can change much more rapidly than company fundamentals, creating temporary mispricings. We seek to capitalize on that.

Text: Potential Upside; on-screen disclosure: For illustrative purposes: no guarantee positive results will occur and may incur a loss.

So really the question is: Which companies have the strongest fundamentals?

On-screen disclosure: For illustrative purposes: no guarantee positive results will occur and may incur a loss.

Our Fundamental Equities teams have unparalleled insight and the agility to identify those companies that can rise to the top when the tides turn.

Disclosure: There is no guarantee that positive results will occur and may incur a loss.

Finding opportunities for growth

Turbulent markets and uneven liquidity present our active investors the potential opportunities to capitalize on dispersion and inefficiencies within and across sectors.

On-screen question: How do you maintain an alpha edge in markets?

Simply put, deep human expertise and cutting-edge technology.

We live in an increasingly digital world. When you look at all the data available, 90% of it has been generated over the last two years. Source: Dihuni, data as of April 10 2020

This is everything from wi-fi beacons to credit card purchases, to online activities.

While a single data point might not be interesting, in aggregate, it starts to tell a story.

We utilize diverse market expertise and data-driven investment process to separate potentially valuable signals from the noise. This leads to potentially innovative insights that seeks to forecast trends and help make active moves ahead of the pack.

Evaluating individual portfolios

We recognize that no two portfolios are the same. As a fiduciary and champion of long-termism, we are always ready to respond to the needs of our clients in 100 countries.¹

COMPREHENSIVE PLATFORM

We have the necessary breadth and reach to deliver hard-to-find alpha

On-screen question: How do you navigate fixed income investment opportunities in a volatile environment?

When you’re navigating any challenging environment the best approach is to remain active and flexible.

In a highly-volatile setting, we don’t rely on outsized positions or big bets on difficult-to-predict macro trends. We stay agile and make smaller, opportunistic moves.

By staying nimble, unconstrained, and well-diversified we’re able to keep our options open to seize attractive opportunities wherever they become available.

Disclosure: Diversification does not assure a profit and may not protect against loss.

The destination remains the same, but especially in conditions like this, the wisest path is to make a little bit of money a lot of times.

Disclosure: No guarantee of profits; and losses may occur.

Access to world-class dedicated capital markets sourcing and trading platforms, plus dealer balance sheets and financing where needed, work together to increase the capacity of our investment teams.

“As data and technology evolves, systematic returns can more easily be accessed in cost efficient manners through indexing. This is transforming the alpha space which ultimately will benefit all investors.”

Pierre Sarrau Chief Investment Officer, Multi-Asset Strategies & Solutions

DATA & TECHNOLOGY

We innovate and evolve through advanced data analytics and technology

Building upon existing deep market knowledge and diverse backgrounds, our active investors are able to utilize an expansive investment toolkit to build resilient and robust portfolios across everything we do and every strategy we manage for every client.

We pride ourselves on our use of technology and ability to turn data into research insights – designing distinctive ways to drive alpha.

Our Technology and Data Analytics teams are really at the center of everything we do and are embedded into the day-to-day lives of our investors across all styles of active management, facilitating their abilities to turn data into investment signals.

100

alternative data sets integrated into our research platform

These raw inputs are useful for making decisions include prices, ratings, shipping info, transcripts, geolocation, texts.

1900

developers and product managers dedicated to Aladdin

Data gets transformed into information, such as risk analytics, liquidity scores, default probabilities, factor exposures.

3000

risk factors monitored by Aladdin

Research and analytics helps investors identify the best investing opportunities and support portfolio construction.

Get the latest from BlackRock investment experts

Read our Macro take blog for an easy-to-read take on what’s going on in the economy, why it matters, and how policymakers might respond.

Read economic insights Read economic insights

Explore active investing