BlackRock Inc.’s assets under management rose to a record $9 trillion in the first quarter as equity markets climbed, buoyed by fresh government stimulus and the accelerating deployment of vaccines.

Fixed-income attracted the biggest inflows with a net $60.8 billion in the period, followed by equities at $49.9 billion, New York-based BlackRock said Thursday in a statement. Total net flows reached a record $172 billion.

An increase of cash on the sidelines during the pandemic—either from stimulus checks or changes in behavior—is fueling an interest in investing, Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said in an interview with CNBC.

“It’s fantastic that we’re seeing more people either investing for the long term or even trading,” he said.

Net flows into long-term investment products, such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, totaled $133 billion as of March 31. In the same period last year, investors withdrew a net $18.7 billion as panic selling followed the declaration of a pandemic, ending the longest bull market in history.

But stocks quickly recovered, setting fresh records through last year and into 2021. The S&P 500 rose 5.8% in the first quarter as President Joe Biden pushed through a $1.9 trillion stimulus package and oversaw the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, bolstering investor optimism.

Infrastructure Plan
Biden is now pressing Congress to enact an even bigger spending plan to address the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, something that Fink has sought for years.

BlackRock reported adjusted net income of $1.2 billion, or $7.77 a share, beating the $7.71 estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. It posted revenue of $4.4 billion, compared with analysts’ prediction of $4.31 billion.

A world leader in exchange-traded funds, BlackRock has been working on improving its lineup of actively managed products, after a prolonged struggle in that part of its business.

The firm saw net inflows of $59 billion in active funds in the first quarter, including about $21 billion from active equities. Those active strategies are important because, although they account for a lower level of assets under management than index funds and ETFs at BlackRock, they contribute about an equal portion of fees.

Customers continued to invest in BlackRock’s ETFs, adding a net $68.5 billion to those funds in the period.

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.