BlackRock chief executive officer Larry Fink is urging a shift towards long-term investment of savings in capital markets to support wealth creation and rebuild domestic economies.
In his 2026 annual letter to investors, the head of the world’s largest asset manager called for moving beyond “daily market moves” and distorted information, encouraging long-term thinking to grow personal and national wealth.
“When people invest their savings – over decades, not days – the capital markets put that money to work, financing companies, infrastructure, and jobs,” Fink wrote.
He added that families investing consistently over long periods, through financial crises, wars and, most recently, the global pandemic, have increased their wealth alongside their economies.
In Europe, the Saving and Investment Union (SIU) aims to channel household savings towards productive investments, reinforcing the continent’s role in an increasingly competitive global economy.
European countries are gradually recognising that investing savings in capital markets is essential to secure a decent standard of living in retirement, as public pension systems come under pressure.
According to Fink, pension reforms in major economies such as Germany can “meaningfully expand Europe’s long-term capital base and channel Europe’s substantial savings into the growth and innovation that will define its next chapter”.
The German government is encouraging citizens to invest in equities through retirement savings accounts as part of a third-pillar private pensions reform currently under discussion in the Bundestag.
A pension commission – the Alterssicherungskommission – is also working on proposals to further reform Germany’s system, defining pension provision levels across statutory, company and private plans, and examining opt-out options in occupational pensions.
Funded retirement assets in Germany remain modest compared with the size of the economy.
As a result, Fink noted, total pension assets in Germany are low relative to GDP compared with several other advanced European countries.
By contrast, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden have funded pension systems that have accumulated substantial long-term assets, meaningfully invested in public and private markets.
“Systems like these can provide retirement income security, while also contributing to deeper domestic capital markets,” Fink said.
