With the conflict in Ukraine, continuing pandemic concerns, elevated inflation, and the prospects of a global recession weighing on investors' minds, major market indices have tumbled in 2022. The S&P 500 index has fallen 18.8% so far this year.

Arguably no industry has been hit harder in the near term by the current bear market than the asset management industry. But BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), the king of the industry, looks positioned to come out of the market downturn stronger than ever. Let's take a look at the company's fundamentals and valuation to unpack why it could be a great pick for income investors over the long run.

With just under $8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) as of Sept. 30, BlackRock is the most dominant asset manager in the industry. The company offers a variety of products to retail investors (i.e. non-professional investors) and institutional investors (e.g. pension funds and insurance companies). These include more than 1,000 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that comprised $2.6 trillion of total AUM via its iShares brand, as well as countless passive and actively managed funds for institutional investors worth $3.8 trillion as of the end of the third quarter.

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Source Fool.com