Today was the unofficial start to earnings season. What stood out in Amenity Viewer from the calls this morning? Let's explore with BlackRock.

We Saw a Significant Downtick at BlackRock, With an Amenity Score of 0 vs 31 Last Quarter

With Amenity Viewer, we go beyond the score to understand the underlying drivers of the weakness.

A quick dive into the Key Drivers in the transcript itself revealed several headwinds

• "We also saw accelerated de-risking by many clients in an environment marked by continuing trade tensions, a further slowdown in emerging markets and the steepening yield curve."
• "Cyclical and secular headwinds impacting today's asset management business."
• "Political instability in certain markets is increasing."
• "Emerging markets and commodities remain under pressure."
• "Investors worldwide are taking a defensive posture highlighted by the market volatility we saw last week."
• "Asset management industry flows overall has slowed considerably."

It's never all negative. The offsets were highlighted by: data solutions, ETFs, and ESG

• "Overall demand remains strong for our full range of technology solutions."
• "Global iShares generated quarterly net inflows of $34 billion, driven by continued strong demand from long-term investors in our core franchise."
• "Demand has risen (for fixed income ETFs) as investors gain more confidence in their benefits and simplicity"
• "Sustainable investing for ESG is another area where an increasing demand from clients globally, coupled with BlackRock's investment in technology expertise is driving large-scale momentum."

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This communication does not represent investment advice. Transcript text provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

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