BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has warned of the widespread protectionist policies around the world, stymiing global trade and weakening the economy. “Today, many countries have twin reverse economies: one based on wealth, and one based on difficulties,” Fink said in a letter to investors by the annual chairman. “This disparity has changed our politics, our policies, and even our sense of what is possible. Protectionism has returned with power.” Fink’s widely read letter came before President Donald Trump was planning on Wednesday to impose mutual tariffs on “all countries.” The White House has already slapped punitive tariffs on aluminum, iron and automobiles, along with increasing tariffs on all goods from China. Trump uses tariffs to protect the United States from what he calls unfair global competition, but concerns about the trade war have made markets uneasy and incited fears of at least slowing growth, if not at all, at the very least. “I hear that from almost every client, almost every leader, almost every person. I talk. They’re more concerned about the economy than any point in my recent memory. Why I understand,” Fink said. “But we’ve had moments like this before, and somehow, in the long run, we understand things,” Fink said the current background supports what he believes is infrastructure and private credit, the fastest growing sector of the private market. BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager with assets of over $11 trillion, made two major acquisitions last year with a push to expand its private credit and alternative investments. In December, we agreed to buy HPS Investment Partners for $12 billion in shares as part of our expansion to private credit. BlackRock also acquired infrastructure investors, a global infrastructure partner, for $12.5 billion last year. “The government cannot fund infrastructure through deficits. The deficits cannot be that high. Instead, they rely on private investors,” Fink says. “On the other hand, companies don’t rely solely on banks for credit. Bank lending is constrained. Instead, companies go to the market.”
