BlackRock & Microsoft Form Strategic Partnership to Host Aladdin on Azure as BlackRock Readies Aladdin for Next Chapter of In...
April 07 2020 - 4:00PM
Business Wire
Companies also Collaborate on Sustainability
Initiatives
BlackRock and Microsoft Corp. have formed a strategic
partnership to host BlackRock’s Aladdin infrastructure on the
Microsoft Azure cloud platform, bringing enhanced capabilities to
BlackRock and its Aladdin clients, which include many of the
world’s most sophisticated institutional investors and wealth
managers.
By adopting Microsoft Azure, BlackRock will both accelerate
innovation on Aladdin through greater computing scale and unlock
new capabilities to enhance the client experience. BlackRock will
also leverage Microsoft Azure’s network of global data centers and
capabilities to meet the localized needs of Aladdin clients, all
while maintaining Aladdin’s highest standards for resiliency and
security.
“As both a user and a provider of Aladdin, this decision
reflects BlackRock’s ongoing commitment to continuous innovation
and scalable operating solutions,” said Rob Goldstein, Chief
Operating Officer of BlackRock. “Aladdin infrastructure deployed on
Microsoft Azure’s cloud platform will provide BlackRock with
enhanced capabilities to deliver the best outcomes for our Aladdin
clients.”
“By bringing Aladdin to the cloud, Microsoft will support
BlackRock in further enhancing its client experience while also
enabling continuous innovation in the financial services industry,”
said Judson Althoff, executive vice president of Microsoft’s
Worldwide Commercial Business. “Together, we will empower an
ecosystem of financial services customers running their most
critical workloads in the cloud.”
As the financial services industry looks to navigate
ever-changing markets, institutions need integrated and scalable
platforms to adapt to the growing complexity of managing data, risk
management and advanced analytics to deliver innovative solutions
to clients. To help support this trend, over time, the Microsoft
Azure platform will enable BlackRock to accelerate innovation and
collaboration between Aladdin and providers across the financial
services ecosystem.
Firms to Collaborate on Sustainable Finance
In line with both firms’ commitment to sustainability, BlackRock
and Microsoft will also work together on initiatives that leverage
technology to improve and expand sustainability data and analytics.
The lack of standardized, high-quality data remains a significant
hurdle in understanding the impact of sustainability-related risk
on investment portfolios and company performance. Big data, machine
learning and AI can all play a critical role in improving access to
and the impact and quality of sustainability data.
The two firms will invite collaboration – whether from
academics, startups, non-profits or others – on
sustainability-related data, analytics and technology. As a first
step, the firms will collaborate on challenge grants for
organizations that use data and tech to understand and drive
sustainability. The firms will also provide technical expertise,
leveraging Microsoft’s scale in computing, big data and AI, and
BlackRock’s leading investment and portfolio management solutions
to support a better understanding of corporate sustainability
behavior.
About Aladdin
Aladdin is BlackRock’s end-to-end investment management and
operations platform used by institutional investors including asset
managers, pension funds, insurers and corporate treasurers. It
combines sophisticated risk analytics with comprehensive portfolio
management, trading and operations tools on a single, unified
platform. Also customized for wealth managers, Aladdin provides a
common language across the investment lifecycle and enables a
culture of risk transparency among users.
About BlackRock
BlackRock’s purpose is to help more and more people experience
financial well-being. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading
provider of financial technology, our clients turn to us for the
solutions they need when planning for their most important goals.
As of December 31, 2019, the firm managed approximately $7.43
trillion in assets on behalf of investors worldwide. For additional
information on BlackRock, please visit
www.blackrock.com/corporate
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital
transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an
intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every
organization on the planet to achieve more.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200407005781/en/
For more information, press only: BlackRock Logan
Koffler Email: Logan.Koffler@BlackRock.com Phone:
(347) 379.0363 Microsoft WE Communications for Microsoft
Email: rrt@we-worldwide.com Phone: (425) 638-7777
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