09.25.2017

BlackRock Pushes Aladdin

09.25.2017

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is aiming to aggressively expand the reach of its Aladdin risk and operations platform, though there concerns about the product having an outsized influence on global markets.

Financial News reported that BlackRock’s Asset Liability and Debt and Derivatives Investment Network has more than 85 asset-manager clients managing an aggregate $18 trillion on the platform, citing BlackRock. The New York-based firm, is pinning much of its hopes for the future on the product.

As spelled out by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink earlier this year, Aladdin and the wider solutions business it sits in, along with BlackRock’s other technology products, will account for 30% of total revenues in five years, more than quadruple the 7% current level.

But as FN reported, some have raised concerns about Aladdin’s widespread adoption potentially having too much influence on global markets, its hefty price tag, and the wisdom of asset managers integrating their investment data with a rival’s.

Questions about Aladdin’s potential influence on global markets center around its scale and complexity. Aladdin holds detailed information relating to every asset or security “in the investable universe”, the company said.  Inside Aladdin is an application called Security Master, which lets users choose any of the assets available on the platform and evaluate them according to diverse and even seemingly-unrelated factors that could affect their performance. Crunching this data has long been part of investment analysis, but Aladdin’s ability to analyse in real time how a huge number of discrete factors affect an asset’s valuation is leaps and bounds ahead of what any human portfolio manager could do, according to FN.

Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and other institutional asset owners are sitting on vast troves of data -- but extracting value from that data is more challenging than ever.

#AssetOwners #DataQuality

Technology costs in asset management have grown disproportionately, but McKinsey research finds the increased spending hasn’t consistently translated into higher productivity.
#AI #Fiance

We're in the FINAL WEEK for the European Women in Finance Awards nominations – don't miss your chance to spotlight the incredible women driving change in finance!
#WomenInFinance #FinanceAwards #FinanceCommunity #EuropeanFinance @WomeninFinanceM

ICYMI: @marketsmedia sat down with EDXM CEO Tony Acuña-Rohter to discuss the launch of EDXM International’s perpetual futures platform in Singapore and what it means for institutional crypto trading.
Read the full interview: https://bit.ly/45xRUWh

Load More

Related articles

  1. SEC's approval of generic listing standards for crypto ETFs could lead to hundreds of new funds.

  2. Compliance date for reporting by alternatives managers has been extended by one year.

  3. Will Robos Transform The Wealth Management Industry?

    The asset manager has partnered with DigitalBridge, CIP and Actis.

  4. More than $200m has been initially committed to bolster the blue economy across emerging markets.

  5. Daily Email Feature

    Asset Owners Increase Outsourcing

    Market segments that have typically been closed to outsourcing middle office services are now open.

We're Enhancing Your Experience with Smart Technology

We've updated our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy to introduce AI tools that will personalize your content, improve our market analysis, and deliver more relevant insights.These changes take effect on Aug 25, 2025.
Your data remains protected—we're simply using smart technology to serve you better. [Review Full Terms] | [Review Privacy Policy] By continuing to use our services after Aug 25, 2025, you agree to these updates.

Close the CTA