BlackRock quarterly profit falls 23%

(Reuters) – BlackRock Inc , the world’s largest asset manager, reported a 23% drop in quarterly profit, as investors pulled money out of its marquee funds and preferred cash management services, while costs rose amid a global economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The New York-based company’s net income fell to $806 million, or $5.15 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.05 billion, or $6.61 per share, a year earlier.

The company ended the quarter with $6.47 trillion in assets under management, down from $6.52 trillion a year earlier.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru and Saqib Ahmed in New York; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)