Asset management firm BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) saw its stock price surge over 4% in early trading Tuesday following the company's strong third-quarter earnings report. The world's largest asset manager saw a 11.4% increase in revenue to $11.7 billion year over year, while net income climbed 9.3% to $3.5 billion. Assets under management jumped 12% to $7.8 trillion year over year. That figure was buoyed by net inflows of $129 billion, led by $41.3 billion of inflows into its iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Fixed income ETFs had $19.7 billion of inflows, while equity ETFs had $14.8 billion. Active beat passive for BlackRock's institutional inflows. Its active institutional funds had $29 billion in net inflows compared to $7 billion for institutional index funds. Institutional equity-index funds saw $23.7 billion in net outflows, but that was offset by $30.3 billion in institutional fixed-income inflows. The inflows drove about a $245 million increase (or 10%) in investment advisory, administration fees, and securities lending fees. "Our diverse platform saw inflows across all asset classes, investment styles and regions. Notably, more than 50% of long-term flows were driven by clients in Europe and Asia," BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink said. Also, performance fees, which are fees for generating a positive return, were way up from $121 million to $532 million. Operating expenses jumped 18% year over year to $2.6 billion in the quarter from higher incentive compensation associated with higher performance and product launch costs. Overall, the operating margin was 40.2%, down slightly from 40.7% from a year ago. The diluted earnings per share increased 24% year over year to $0.87 per share. BlackRock's stock is up about 26% this year. 10 stocks we like better than BlackRockWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and BlackRock wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of September 24, 2020 Dave Kovaleski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source