The world’s largest money manager BlackRock’s assets increased to a record high in the first quarter despite volatility in financial markets fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals.

Assets managed by the New York-based firm increased to $11.58 trillion from $10.47 trillion at the end of the same three-month period a year earlier and from $11.55 trillion at the end of last year, it said on Friday.

BlackRock’s net income declined to $1.51 billion, or $9.64 per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $1.57 billion, or $10.48 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted for items like acquisition-related costs, earnings per share were $11.30, up 15% year on year.

The increase comes despite broader weakening in U.S. stocks in the first quarter, as market optimism over Trump’s return to the White House was followed by economic uncertainty caused by announcements of U.S. tariffs on trade partners.

“We’ve seen periods like this before when there were large, structural shifts in policy and markets – like the financial crisis, COVID, and surging inflation in 2022. We always stayed connected with clients, and some of BlackRock’s biggest leaps in growth followed,” he said.

The benchmark S&P 500 index fell 4.6% in the first quarter of 2025, its worst start to a year since 2022. Total expenses in the quarter rose to $3.58 billion from $3.04 billion last year.

BlackRock saw long-term net inflows of $83 billion, up from $76 billion a year ago. A majority of the long-term inflows were captured fixed income products, at $37.7 billion, down from $41.7 billion a year ago. Equity product inflows in the first quarter stood at $19.3 billion, up from $18.4 billion a year earlier.

Source: Globalbankingandfinance