(Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc.’s quest to build scale byfocusing on exchange-traded funds is reaping rewards.

The world’s largest asset manager pulled in $52 billion in itsiShares ETF business in the third quarter, helping the firm exceedanalysts’ revenue estimates for the first time in four quarters.And showing just how much BlackRock is an industry juggernaut,total assets under management surged to almost $6 trillion.

BlackRock has benefited from a flood of money into cheaperpassive products as investors opt for those over higher fee activefunds. Price cuts have also helped. The firm last October reducedprices on 15 core ETFs aimed at price sensitive retail clients andfinancial advisers. BlackRock has made up for any fee reductionswith increased flows into those funds, Chief Executive OfficerLaurence D. Fink said on the company’s earnings conferencecall.

“We are looking at technology to enable much greater flows,”Fink said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday. “Thegreatest component of future technology is to be better connectedwith clients, to have more technology enabled sales.”

Along with expanded use of technology, BlackRock is also aimingto increase revenue faster than operating expenses, Fink said onCNBC. In the third quarter, revenue increased 14 percent from ayear earlier while operating expenses increased 13 percent,according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Aladdin’s magic

Shares of BlackRock rose 0.8 percent to $468.58 at 10:40 a.m. inNew York trading. The stock is up 22 percent this year throughMonday, compared with 14 percent for the S&P 500.

Gains in BlackRock’s Aladdin business, which helps clientsmanage risk in their portfolios, are also helping, Fink said.Revenue from technology and risk management, driven by Aladdin,increased 15 percent from a year earlier, the company said in astatement.

While last quarter’s ETF haul marked a decline from a record $74billion gathered by the products in the second quarter of thisyear, it was still higher than the year-earlier figure. But thequarter wasn’t only about these low-cost products.

“Performance on the active business on some of the hedge fundswas really really strong this quarter,” said Kyle Sanders, ananalyst at Edward Jones & Co. “That was the wild card and thatis what put them over the top.”

All of that contributed to BlackRock posting strong revenuenumbers -- $3.23 billion for the third quarter versus the estimateof $3.09 billion.

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