Each year, in his Annual Chairman’s Letter, BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink reflects on long-term forces shaping the global economy and how BlackRock is helping its clients navigate these dynamics and seize the opportunities they create.
On March 31, BlackRock published Fink’s 2025 letter, “The Democratization of Investing: Expanding Prosperity in More Places, for More People.”
While a retirement-focused analysis from 401(k) Specialist of the lengthy letter can be found here, there’s just too many interesting comments, statistics and facts fresh from the pen of the leader of the world’s largest money manager to not share more. So here you go (all are direct quotes—some excerpted—from Fink’s 2025 letter, roughly in the order in which they appear).
Stats and facts
• “During the first half of the 20th century, the percentage of Americans owning stocks crept up from just 1% to 4%… By 1989, just under a third of American families had money in the markets; today, it’s roughly 60%.”
• “Over the past 40 years, global gross domestic product (GDP) has grown more than in the previous two thousand combined.”
“…pensions typically outperform 401(k)s by about 0.5% each year. Half a percent doesn’t sound huge, but it adds up over time. BlackRock estimates that over 40 years, an extra 0.5% in annual returns results in 14.5% more money in your 401(k).”
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink
• “…more capital is sitting idle today than at any point in my career. In the U.S. alone, roughly $25 trillion is parked in banks and money market funds.”
• “By 2040, the global demand for new infrastructure investment is $68 trillion. To put that price tag in perspective, it’s roughly the equivalent of building the entire Interstate Highway System and the Transcontinental Railroad, start to finish, every six weeks—for the next 15 years.”
• “81% of U.S. companies with over $100 million in revenue are privately held. The percentage is higher in the EU, and even higher in the U.K.”
• “…projections show Social Security’s retirement and disability funds will run out by 2035. After that, people would get only 83% of their promised benefits, and that percentage will drop over time.”
• “In January, BlackRock surveyed Americans, asking how much money they’d need to retire comfortably. When we took the average of those responses, it was just over $2 million—$2,089,000, to be exact… And almost no one is close. Even Gen-Xers, the oldest of whom will start retiring in 5 years, are falling short. In fact, 62% have saved less than $150,000.”
• “…pensions typically outperform 401(k)s by about 0.5% each year. Half a percent doesn’t sound huge, but it adds up over time. BlackRock estimates that over 40 years, an extra 0.5% in annual returns results in 14.5% more money in your 401(k).”
• “In the U.S., retirement investing accounts for about 30% of the money flowing through the stock market.”
• “The national debt has grown at three times the pace of GDP since Times Square’s debt clock started ticking in 1989. This year, interest payments will surpass $952 billion—exceeding defense spending. By 2030, mandatory government spending and debt service will consume all federal revenue, creating a permanent deficit.”
• Last fall, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of BlackRock’s initial public offering (IPO). When we went public, we had just 650 employees and our stock was listed at $14 a share. We managed $165 billion of primarily fixed income-based assets for our clients… Today, we manage $11.6 trillion for our clients… Our employee base is now almost 23,000 strong, with offices in more than 30 countries. Our stock ended 2024 at over $1,000 per share.”
• “2024 was a milestone year for BlackRock. Clients entrusted us with a record $641 billion of net inflows. We added $1.5 trillion to AUM, and delivered record revenue and operating income, alongside a 29% total return for our shareholders.”
• “Since our IPO in 1999, we’ve generated an annualized total return of 21%, compared to 8% for the S&P 500 and 6% for the financials industry.”
Noteworthy quotes
• “I hear it from nearly every client, nearly every leader—nearly every person—I talk to: They’re more anxious about the economy than any time in recent memory.”
• “…as the global financial system continues to evolve, the classic 60/40 portfolio may no longer fully represent true diversification. The future standard portfolio may look more like 50/30/20—stocks, bonds, and private assets like real estate, infrastructure, and private credit. The appeal is clear. While these private assets may carry greater risk, they also provide great benefits…”
“Every stock, every bond, every fund—every asset—can be tokenized. If they are, it will revolutionize investing.”
Larry Fink
• “Every stock, every bond, every fund—every asset—can be tokenized. If they are, it will revolutionize investing. Markets wouldn’t need to close. Transactions that currently take days would clear in seconds. And billions of dollars currently immobilized by settlement delays could be reinvested immediately back into the economy, generating more growth.”
• “For most people, retirement accounts are their first—and often their only—experience with investing. So, if we really want to democratize investing, retirement is where the conversation has to start.”
• “We need to make it clear: Private assets are legal in retirement accounts.”
• “I’ve always said investing is an act of hope—that no one invests for the long term unless they believe the future will be better than the present. But that’s not quite right. Investing isn’t just an act of hope; investing is what makes our hopes, our reality. That’s something worth protecting. That’s something worth expanding. That’s something worth democratizing.”
Read Larry Fink’s 2025 Annual Chairman’s Letter to Investors in its entirety here.
SEE ALSO:
• BlackRock’s Fink: Democratize Investing by Expanding Access to Private Markets
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.
