Of the $40.5 billion that investors poured into long-term funds during the quarter, nearly half - $19.1 billion - went into the company's iShares exchange-traded funds business. Retail investors accounted for $16.6 billion, or 41 percent of total long-term net flows.
BlackRock has been expanding its iShares business within the U.S. and abroad.
"We think Europe is going to be a place of accelerated growth" for ETFs, Chief Executive Officer Laurence Fink said in an interview on Thursday.
BlackRock last year acquired Credit Suisse's ETF business and hired Rachel Lord, previously with Citigroup, to head its iShares business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The bulk of investor money during the quarter went into equities, which accounted for $24.7 billion, or roughly 61 percent, of BlackRock's long-term net inflows.
Investors also added more money than they withdrew in fixed-income funds, which had net inflows of $1.5 billion, and multi-asset products, which had $17.4 billion.
Retirement
BlackRock is increasingly turning its focus to the retirement market, where it sees a ripe opportunity.
"We believe the defined contribution area is the greatest growth area," Fink said. "We have to start focusing on things like longevity" and education around saving for retirement.
BlackRock said it had $30 billion in net inflows into its defined contribution channel for the year, increasing its total assets in the unit to $525 billion.