What Is Asset Management?

By Matthew DiLallo – Updated Feb 25, 2025 at 10:43 AM EST

Key Points

Asset managers allocate clients' assets across classes like cash, equities, and alternatives based on goals and risk.
Asset management firms earn fees, typically 1% of assets under management, and may also gain from trades and products.
BlackRock, the largest, managed $8.6 billion in assets in 2022, providing services across multiple asset categories.

Asset management is a service offered by financial companies to oversee their clients' financial assets. Many asset managers decide how to administer a client's assets based on their investment strategy. Here's a closer look at asset management, what asset management firms do, how they make money, and some examples of asset managers.

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About the Author

Matt DiLallo has been a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst specializing in covering dividend-paying companies, particularly in the energy and REIT sectors, since 2012. He also covers pre-IPO companies, ETFs, and other investing topics. He holds an MBA from Liberty University.

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Matt DiLallo has positions in Blackstone. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Blackstone. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.