"A fitting real-world." "Divorced from our debt-ridden reality." Those are two phrases used to describe BlackRock [profile] chief Larry Fink in a recent column from an unusual source: a student newspaper.

Laurence D. Fink BlackRock Chairman, Chief Executive Officer

On April 14 UCLA revealed that Fink will deliver the keynote speeches at both of the giant state school's commencement ceremonies on June 10. On Friday a UCLA campus newspaper the Daily Bruin posted student columnist Arthur Wang's reaction to the selection of Fink. The column offers fundsters at how the post-Millennials view the asset management industry.

For one, the piece doesn't seem to question the importance of Fink's work; indeed, the column wonders "how does the CEO of BlackRock ... have time to do this, and how so few of us know about one of the most powerful men on Earth?" Fink "moves the movers," the paper writes, and "is astoundingly influential in the financial world."

Yet the paper also pains Fink and BlackRock in a somewhat scary hue, drawing attention to "the terrifying and largely overlooked influence of BlackRock." The paper worries about the broad reach of BlackRock's risk-management platform, Aladdin, and fears "that even a minor miscalculation could create a world of problems" since Aladdin is used for seven percent of all financial assets in the world.

"Fink isn't just a poster child for corporate capitalism," the paper writes. "He probably owns the company that prints the posters."

So, this post-Millennial sees Fink and BlackRock as big and important, in a scary-and-worth-paying-attention-to way. Fundsters, take note. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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