BlackRock, the giant money management firm, reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings as its funds businesses saw outflows and customers shifted to passive funds over more actively-managed ones.

The asset management firm’s shares were down as much as 8.8 per cent as investors focused on the weaker-than-expected earnings as well as weaker-than-forecast revenue numbers even as overall profits more than quadrupled with the addition of Barclays’ former exchange-traded funds business.

BlackRock chief executive Laurence Fink blamed the rise in outflows from the firm’s funds on a decision by clients to rebalance their portfolios.