Two buys in the Trading 212 SIPP today: a new position in BlackRock (BLK) and yet more Meta (META). One is the world's largest asset manager — the company that literally runs the global investing infrastructure. The other is the advertising cash machine I've been topping up for months and see no reason to stop. Two very different businesses, one simple rationale: long term, got to work well, seems like a plan to me.
── BlackRock (BLK) — The Picks-and-Shovels of Global Investing ──
BlackRock is not a household name in the UK the way Apple or Amazon are, but it should be. BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with over $11 trillion in assets under management. That's trillion with a T. When pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments, and individual investors around the world need somewhere to put their money, a huge proportion of it flows through BlackRock — either directly through their iShares ETF platform or through their institutional asset management business.
I think of BlackRock as the picks-and-shovels play on global investing. During a gold rush, the smart money isn't digging for gold — it's selling picks and shovels to the miners. BlackRock is the same idea applied to finance. Whether markets go up or down, whether investors are buying stocks or bonds, whether they're chasing AI or hiding in treasuries — BlackRock earns fees on the assets. The business model is beautifully simple: gather assets, manage them well, collect a percentage. At $11 trillion and growing, that percentage adds up to a very large number.
The iShares ETF franchise is the crown jewel. iShares is the largest ETF provider in the world, and ETFs are still taking market share from traditional mutual funds at a steady clip. Every year, more money flows from high-fee active funds into low-cost passive ETFs, and iShares captures a big slice of that flow. The trend is structural, not cyclical — the shift from active to passive is one of the biggest themes in global finance, and BlackRock is positioned right at the centre of it.
Beyond ETFs, BlackRock's Aladdin risk management platform is a business most people have never heard of but is deeply embedded in the global financial system. Aladdin is used by central banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and insurance companies to model risk, manage portfolios, and stress-test scenarios. It's the operating system for institutional money management — sticky, high-margin, and incredibly hard to replace once it's integrated into an institution's workflow. The switching costs are enormous, which gives BlackRock a moat that most tech companies would envy.
Then there's the private markets push. BlackRock has been building out its capabilities in private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate — asset classes where fees are typically higher than in public markets. The acquisitions of Global Infrastructure Partners and other alternatives platforms signal that BlackRock sees the future of asset management as spanning both public and private markets. If they execute well, this diversifies their revenue mix and increases the average fee rate over time.
The valuation is not screamingly cheap — quality rarely is — but it's reasonable for a business of this calibre. BlackRock generates enormous free cash flow, returns a significant portion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, and has grown its dividend consistently for years. This is a compounder, not a lottery ticket. A company I expect to be larger, more profitable, and more embedded in global finance in 10 years than it is today. That's the kind of business I want in the SIPP.
── Meta (META) — The Cash Machine I Can't Stop Adding To ──
What more is there to say about Meta that I haven't already said on this page? Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger — over 3 billion daily active users across the family of apps. An advertising platform so effective and so deeply integrated that businesses of every size budget for it the way they budget for rent. AI-powered Advantage+ campaigns that are making the ads business even more effective. Reels monetisation that's closing the gap with TikTok. And a management team that's demonstrated repeatedly it will do whatever it takes to protect and grow the business.
The financials are absurd in the best way. Tens of billions in free cash flow annually. Operating margins that most companies would kill for. A balance sheet with more cash than debt. Aggressive share buybacks that reduce the share count year after year — meaning every remaining share owns a slightly bigger piece of the pie. The AI infrastructure spending is enormous, yes, but it's being applied directly to the core business in ways that are already generating returns, not just building speculative future products.
I keep buying Meta because the thesis keeps working. The advertising market keeps growing. Digital keeps taking share from traditional. Meta's platforms keep getting more engaging, more measurable, and more essential to advertisers. And the valuation — even after the stock's strong run — is not demanding relative to the growth rate and cash generation. There will be volatile quarters. There will be regulatory noise. There will be headlines about AI spending or ad market slowdowns that spook the market. I don't care. I'm buying for 10 years from now, not 10 weeks.
── Long Term, Got To Work Well ──
Two buys, two compounding machines, one simple framework. BlackRock — the picks-and-shovels of global investing, earning fees on trillions through ETFs, Aladdin, and a growing private markets business. Meta — the advertising juggernaut that keeps printing cash and buying back shares. Different industries, different business models, same underlying logic: these are businesses that compound, and I want to own them for a long time.
There are no guarantees in investing. BlackRock could face fee compression, regulatory challenges, or competition from newer platforms. Meta could face an advertising downturn, increased competition from TikTok or AI-native platforms, or a regulatory reckoning that changes the business. These are risks I'm aware of and comfortable with — because the alternative is sitting in cash, watching inflation eat purchasing power, and hoping for a perfect entry point that never arrives. I'd rather own great businesses at reasonable prices and let time do the rest. Long term, got to work well. Seems like a plan to me.
As always, nothing on this site is financial advice. I'm a 66-year-old UK investor sharing what I do with my own money in the Trading 212 SIPP. BlackRock and Meta shares can go down as well as up. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Do your own research, understand your own risk tolerance, and never invest money you can't afford to lose.