BlackRock to integrate Aladdin and Preqin to create new private markets platform

Asset management giant BlackRock will combine the capabilities of its investment platform and order management system (OMS), Aladdin, with the data and analytics features of its most recent acquisition, Preqin, to provide a “differentiated technology and analytical platform” for private markets, said CEO Larry Fink.

BlackRock made a significant push into the alternative assets space when it announced on July 1 its intention to buy the London-based alternative assets data provider for $3.2 billion. Fink said he believes the combination of Aladdin and Preqin will lead to the creation of a powerful new platform for the private markets.

“The serious, big, giant conversation we’re having right now is based on the ability that Aladdin can provide both public and private data analytics,” Fink said today during BlackRock’s Q2 earnings call. “With a combination of Preqin alongside Aladdin, we have probably the biggest opportunity we’ve had in 10 years or more in delivering a more differentiated technology and analytical platform, which could then expand our entire platform in terms of benchmarking and indexing.”

Fink said that while alternative assets and private markets solutions have historically been the domain of other providers, entering the sector is a “unique opportunity” for BlackRock.

BlackRock general counsel Chris Meade said on the call that the company hopes to complete the Preqin transaction before the end of the year, alongside BlackRock’s acquisition of private markets infrastructure manager Global Infrastructure Partners, which is expected to wrap up in Q3.

“With our planned acquisitions of Global Infrastructure Partners and Preqin, BlackRock is becoming the premier long-term capital partner across private and public markets,” Meade said.

Better together

When the Preqin deal was announced, BlackRock said it would be merging its existing eFront private markets solution with Preqin. eFront is already part of Aladdin, but Fink said the integration between Preqin and Aladdin is greater than an add-on to eFront’s existing capabilities.

“No firm right now has the position that we have with Aladdin, and now with Preqin we could assist more and more investors,” Fink said. “We are creating a differentiating private markets approach. We’re building what our clients need for success: a skilled private market platform encompassing investment workflows.”

Preqin’s integration is another boost for Aladdin, which has seen significant attention and investment from BlackRock over the last year. During its Investor Day last year, BlackRock announced that it would build out accounting and data analytics features, and in January, it revealed plans to build and use AI copilots. Less is known about Aladdin Trader, which is understood to be a fixed-income tool with execution management functionality.

Fink reiterated his desire to index the private markets, a statement that he also made to investors and analysts shortly after the Preqin deal was announced.

“As private markets grow, data and analytics will become increasingly more important,” he said. “The combination of Preqin and Aladdin presents an opportunity to find a common language for private markets. … We envision we can bring the principles of indexing to the private markets through standardization of data, benchmarking and better performance tools.”

Fink said that while the process of indexing the private markets would not be easy or fast, his company has a history of delivering promises on time. He did not offer a timeline for this ambition but said it would require some “industrial fortitude.”

“We are going to do this with the same industrial fortitude as we did in the early years—when we were just an asset manager needing risk analytics, so we did it ourselves,” he said. “We are going to do this in the private markets, and this is going to take time, and I think we have a real ability to provide a very differentiated platform in this. This is something of sheer excitement, and if we succeed with this, it will add a whole new revenue line to BlackRock.”