BlackRock posted a 21% fourth quarter jump in profit after buoyant equity markets increased income from fees and drove its assets to a record high of $11.6 trillion, the world's largest money manager said on Wednesday.

Key Takeaways BlackRock's assets under management surged 15% year-over-year to $11.55 trillion.The asset manager beat estimates for earnings and revenue in the period.CEO Larry Fink noted that this was the second straight quarter of record inflows for BlackRock.

BlackRock said in its fourth-quarter earnings report Wednesday that assets under management jumped to a record $11.55 trillion, up from $10 trillion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected BlackRock to report a record $11.

BlackRock is making key leadership changes and combining some teams internally, according to a memo to employees from CEO Larry Fink and President Rob Kapito. The changes follow several major private market-linked acquisitions at BlackRock in the past year: Global Infrastructure Partners,

Mark Wiedman was most recently head of BlackRock’s global client business

Asset manager BlackRock's senior executive Mark Wiedman, who was touted to be a potential successor to CEO Larry Fink, is departing the firm, said two sources familiar with the matter.