BlackRock is repositioning roughly $300 billion in model portfolios, favoring US large-cap stocks and companies that use artificial intelligence over the firms building it. The September 23 update also trims regional bets and cites Q2 earnings as evidence that AI spending is starting to pay off.
BlackRock is shifting roughly $300 billion in model portfolios toward US large-cap stocks and companies that use artificial intelligence rather than the firms building it. The asset manager's latest investment directions, released September 23, mark a shift from backing AI pioneers to targeting the companies actually putting the technology to work.
Three moves in one rebalance
The repositioning breaks into three parts. BlackRock is increasing its allocation to US large-cap equities, rotating its AI exposure away from early movers and toward businesses adopting or benefiting from the technology, and scaling back the size of its regional tilts across developed and emerging markets.
Tech already dominates the S&P 500
BlackRock's own analysis found that HALO sectors — energy, utilities, industrials, and materials — accounted for just 17% of the S&P 500's weight by late February 2026. Technology and communication services, by comparison, made up nearly 43%. BlackRock has labeled the HALO sectors as more resistant to disruption.
The rebalance builds on a March shift
BlackRock was already running equity overweights of 2-3% above benchmarks in its model portfolios earlier in 2026. A March rebalance on what was then a $220 billion model platform leaned toward stocks supported by AI deployment. The September update expands that platform to approximately $300 billion and sharpens the thesis further.
The firm cited Q2 earnings as evidence that capital spending on AI infrastructure is generating returns. As those returns move from theoretical to measurable, the investment case shifts downstream: instead of buying the companies building AI, investors buy the companies using it to cut costs, boost margins, or enter new markets.
Why the size of the bet matters
Model portfolios are the templates financial advisors use to allocate client assets, so BlackRock's positioning ripples through thousands of advisor relationships and millions of individual accounts. A tilt toward US large caps also tends to drive inflows into BlackRock's iShares ETFs.
The reduction in regional tilts narrows the size of BlackRock's directional bets across US, developed, and emerging market allocations. If the largest asset manager in the world is publicly flagging that HALO sectors are underrepresented, advisors who follow BlackRock's model guidance will be shifting client money accordingly.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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