A few weeks ago, BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink found himself in a meeting with 12 of Europe’s top chief executives on the sidelines of the annual Davos conference. They were so bearish, he says, that he came away optimistic that things could only get better.

But the chief executive of the $18 trillion investment giant BlackRock has found a much different vibe on his trip to Australia this week: a sense of mild optimism, and a distinct lack of the divisiveness he finds in America and Europe.