BlackRock Chair and CEO Laurence D. Fink attends a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on Jan. 23, 2020.FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images
The global economy, which has been battered by the coronavirus outbreak, will recover steadily, in part due to the absence of obstacles usually found in a recovery from a typical financial crises, Larry Fink, chief executive at BlackRock Inc, said in his annual letter to shareholders on Monday.
“Central banks are moving quickly to address problems in credit markets, and governments are now acting aggressively to enact fiscal stimulus,” he said.
These actions are likely to be more effective and work more quickly since they are not fighting against the same structural challenges as they were a decade ago, Fink said.
A raft of fiscal and monetary measures across the globe have helped steady investors’ nerves in recent days, even as hopes remain that central banks and governments stand ready to provide even more support if needed.
Fink, who is also chairman at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said the stressed conditions in markets had highlighted the role of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in providing liquidity and transparency, especially fixed-income ETFs.
“As markets experienced significant stress related to concerns over the global spread of the virus, ETFs traded in record volumes, including $1.4 trillion in the U.S. alone, or 37% of all U.S. equity activity compared to a 27% average for 2019,” Fink said.