BlackRock [profile] is no longer just a "bond gorilla," and Larry Fink says it's not a Wall Street firm, either. The founder and CEO of the world's largest asset manager shared those sentiments for an in-depth profile by the Financial Times' Dan McCrum and Henny Sender.

"I have always said we are not Wall Street. We left Wall Street," Fink told the FT. "We have a different business model, which happens to be better for the environment we live in."

"Scale is a virtue," Fink added, dismissing worries that, in the FT's words, BlackRock and its $3.7-trillion in assets under management are "too big to manage." "Our performance has turned dramatically. I have not felt this confident on where we are going in over five years."

Fink's remarks come about a year after the committed Democrat publicly expressed some understanding for the Occupy Wall Street movement then protesting around the globe.

Now the FT details some of Fink's and BlackRock's history and political involvement while wondering who might have an inside track on succeeding Fink if he does end up serving as U.S. President Barack Obama's next Treasury Secretary. BlackRock high flyers mentioned include: Philip Hildebrand, an ex-Swiss National Bank governor; Rob Kapito, Fink's number two; Richard Kushel, deputy chief operating officer; Mark McCombe, chief of BlackRock Asia; Mark Wiedman, chief of iShares [profile]; and Kendrick Wilson, an ex-U.S. Treasury official. Yet the pub concludes that "there still is no clear heir."

"It will be a great moment for me when I see the firm doing better without me than with me," Fink said. "That's the difference between being a founder and being a CEO."

Fundsters interested in getting inside Fink's head and reading up on BlackRock should read the full article. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE