BlackRock UK lays out its stall

Sort of. That's how it might feel to some, although the US-based asset management company is in fact looking back over its presence in Britain in this one-minute ad with homespun voiceover and ultra-British imagery. "Nearly three decades ago, the UK became our first office outside of the US," explains the firm, "and since then, we’ve been helping people invest better, so they can prepare better for wherever life takes them. On behalf of our clients all around the world, we've invested nearly half a trillion in the UK economy and have the privilege of managing the retirement savings of 13 million people across the nation (Source: BlackRock as of 21 March 2025). The campaign will look very different depending on how one regards certain asset management funds - BlackRock attracts plenty of criticism across a range of issues including environmental. This ad launched a couple of weeks before US President Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a multi-billion-dollar Tech Prosperity Deal centred around artificial intelligence (AI) - environmentally touchy, as data centres require immense amounts of land, energy and water. BlackStone - which BlackRock was spun off from in 1994 - is one of the major companies involved in the new deal, along with Nvidia, Google, Microsoft and Palantir. The British government described the deal thus: "The “record-breaking” investment pledge of £150 billion refers to the largest total value of new confirmed inward investment commitments ever announced in connection with a UK state visit. It includes forward capital commitments by US firms including £90bn from Blackstone which is in addition to the £10bn that they have previously announced that they will deploy in the UK to support datacentres but which they have reaffirmed as part of a total investment pledge of £100bn over the next decade. However, if we take into consideration commitments from UK firms, banks and financial institutions to invest into the US, alongside UK Central Government commitments to buy around £60 billion ($82 billion) from US companies over the next five years then the overall total commercial package amounts to around £280 billion". Sky News and Reuters reported before Trump's September visit to Britain that "BlackRock (BLK.N), opens new tab plans to invest 500 million pounds ($700 million) in British data-centre infrastructure, one of a string of deals to be announced during U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit next week".

Keywords: BlackRock UK, retirement savings UK, US asset management in Britain, US UK Tech Prosperity Deal, US investment in Britain