BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has selected Microsoft to host its Aladdin investment and risk management system on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
The migration to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform will take place over many months and Aladdin users are not expected to see any impact in the near term, BlackRock said.
“Aladdin infrastructure deployed on Microsoft Azure’s platform will provide BlackRock with enhanced capabilities to deliver the best outcomes for our Aladdin clients,” Rob Goldstein, chief operating officer at BlackRock, said in a statement.
BlackRock’s Aladdin system is used by asset managers to help manage the risk in their portfolios and assist them in trading, data management and other operations.
Aladdin, which began as internal investment management software, has in recent years been opened up for use by wealth managers such as UBS, Morgan Stanley and HSBC as BlackRock tries to increase revenue from technology.
Investment in Aladdin and its 2019 acquisition of French software provider eFront helped boost BlackRock’s technology services revenue to almost $1 billion for 2019.
