By Jack Pitcher

Larry Fink wants more Americans investing in private markets alongside stocks and bonds.

The billionaire BlackRock chief executive says he wants individuals to have better access to the menu of private and less-liquid investments that have long been core holdings of pensions, endowments and other institutions. Making it easier to own a slice of private loans, real estate or infrastructure such as ports or data centers is one of several ways investing could be further democratized, helping address a growing retirement-savings crisis, Fink says.

The potential for capital markets to expand prosperity is the theme of 72-year-old Fink's latest annual letter to shareholders, which touches on topics ranging from retirement policy to building out the electrical grid. He details two approaches to broadening access: helping current investors reach parts of the market previously restricted to them, and enabling more people to become investors in the first place.

"The country focuses heavily on preventing people from hitting the floor, as we should. But the U.S. needs to put just as much effort into helping people climb to the ceiling -- through investing," Fink wrote.

Fink acknowledges that he is talking his book. BlackRock reshaped its business last year with several acquisitions to bolster its private-asset offerings, including Global Infrastructure Partners, which just led BlackRock's massive global ports deal. As support, he cites data showing portfolios with an allocation to private assets have better returns, lower volatility and greater diversification.

Pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors have flocked to private assets in recent decades, seeking relatively high and stable returns. It is much harder for individuals to buy those investments, which aren't easily accessible through brokerage apps and can demand high investment minimums and fees. Fink is betting that better data transparency, technology and liquidity will make it possible to index private markets, making them more accessible.

In the future, Fink envisions throwing out the traditional 60/40 stock-and-bond portfolio in favor of a 50/30 approach that adds 20% private assets. Today it is nearly impossible even for wealthy individuals to put that much of their portfolio in diversified private assets, he writes.

"Assets that will define the future -- data centers, ports, power grids, the world's fastest-growing private companies -- aren't available to most investors," he wrote. "They're in private markets, locked behind high walls, with gates that open only for the wealthiest or largest market participants."

Fink's annual letters became widely read over the past 15 years as BlackRock grew into the world's largest asset manager and an important government adviser. They also began to attract critics on both sides of the political aisle when Fink weighed in on hot-button topics and asked CEOs of companies BlackRock invested in to make climate disclosures. This letter doesn't discuss tariffs or issues such as sustainable investing and proxy votes.

BlackRock says over half of the $11.6 trillion it manages on behalf of clients is retirement money. Fink focused his two most recent letters on retirement issues -- such as the high number of Americans with no access to a workplace-sponsored 401(k) plan -- and BlackRock held a summit with lawmakers in Washington earlier this month to highlight the problems.

"Many countries have twin, inverted economies: one where wealth builds upon wealth; another where hardship builds on hardship," Fink wrote, adding that policies that broaden access to investing -- such as opening an investment account for every American child at birth -- are worth exploring.

"More investment. More investors. That's the answer," Fink wrote.

Write to Jack Pitcher at jack.pitcher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 31, 2025 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)

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