BlackRock and Tradeweb to Create a Fully Integrated Electronic Rates Trading Solution
Investors to Benefit from Greater Efficiency, Transparency, and Liquidity
NEW YORK, NY, May 14, 2014 – BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) and Tradeweb Markets LLC have formed a strategic alliance to create electronic trading solutions in the rates and derivatives markets. The Aladdin community, made up of BlackRock and BlackRock Solutions’clients utilizing Aladdin®, the firm’s investment and risk system, will benefit from a fully integrated trading experience.
The alliance will fuse the Tradeweb marketplace with Aladdin to create a powerful combination of order management, pricing, and execution tools providing clients with increased ability to recognize trading opportunities. The strategic alliance will also benefit the broader investment community by bringing enhanced market data and trading tools to Tradeweb clients.
Through this initiative, the Aladdin community will gain access to Tradeweb’s transparent pricing from over 40 liquidity providers through the Aladdin Trading Network, a liquidity portal within Aladdin that leverages connectivity to aggregate external liquidity and integrate the marketplace within Aladdin’s tools.
“Integrating Aladdin with Tradeweb’s global rates and derivatives platform delivers a more streamlined and enhanced trading experience,” said Sudhir Nair, incoming Global Head of the Aladdin Business. “Given regulatory and workflow pressures in the rates and derivatives markets, partnering with Tradeweb to aggregate liquidity and increase efficiencies in trading is a natural extension of the Aladdin Trading Network and delivers immediate value to the Aladdin community.”
“We have always focused on deploying the most efficient means of trading liquid and transparent markets at Tradeweb, and our partnership with Aladdin is a great step forward in providing investors with a fully automated workflow,” said Lee Olesky, CEO of Tradeweb. "As the industry leader in driving flexible, electronic solutions for rates trading, we look forward to the greater synergies and opportunities this collaboration will bring to the investing community."
The strategic alliance will integrate the Aladdin Trading Network with Tradeweb’s leading technology and market share in the liquid rates and derivatives markets. The alliance continues the mission of Aladdin Trading Network to bring additional pricing, liquidity, and execution tools to the Aladdin community with the goal of aggregating fragmented external liquidity, increasing efficiencies, and streamlining trading workflows.
About BlackRock
BlackRock is a leader in investment management, risk management and advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. At March 31, 2014, BlackRock’s AUM was $4.401 trillion. BlackRock helps clients meet their goals and overcome challenges with a range of products that include separate accounts, mutual funds, iShares® (exchange-traded funds), and other pooled investment vehicles. BlackRock also offers risk management, advisory and enterprise investment system services to a broad base of institutional investors through BlackRock Solutions®. Headquartered in New York City, as of March 31, 2014, the firm had approximately 11,500 employees in more than 30 countries and a major presence in key global markets, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East and Africa. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.blackrock.com.
About Aladdin
Aladdin® is an operating system for investment managers that connects the information, people and technology needed to manage money in real time. The Aladdin platform combines sophisticated risk analytics with comprehensive portfolio management, trading and operations tools on a single platform to power informed decision-making, effective risk management, efficient trading and operational scale. Aladdin Trading Network is Aladdin’s liquidity portal, leveraging connectivity to aggregate external liquidity and integrate the marketplace within Aladdin’s tools.
For additional information, please visit www.blackrocksolutions.com.
About Tradeweb Markets
Tradeweb Markets builds and operates many of the world’s most efficient financial marketplaces, providing market participants with greater transparency and efficiency in fixed income and derivatives. Focused on applying technology to enhance efficiency throughout the trade lifecycle, Tradeweb pioneered straight-through-processing in fixed income and now supports marketplaces for over 20 asset classes with electronic execution, processing, post-trade analysis and market data in an integrated workflow. Tradeweb Markets serves the dealer-to-customer markets through the Tradeweb institutional platform, inter-dealer trading through Dealerweb, and the retail fixed income community on Tradeweb Direct. Customers rely on Tradeweb to drive the evolution of fixed income and derivatives through flexible trading architecture and more efficient, transparent markets.