BlackRock Inc. said it’s acquiring SpiderRock Advisors, an asset management and technology firm, to expand its customized investing strategies to wealthy clients.
The deal will increase BlackRock’s ability to offer tax-efficient investment services — especially those that rely on options trading, BlackRock said in a statement Friday. In 2021, the asset manager made a minority investment in SpiderRock, which oversees about $4.8 billion of assets for investment advisers, family offices and other clients.
SpiderRock “can provide advisers with a comprehensive suite of customization capabilities that help solve clients’ unique challenges, such as income generation, downside protection, and tax-efficiency through the use of options,” Eve Cout, head of portfolio design and solutions in BlackRock’s US Wealth Advisory business, said in the statement.
The asset management industry is increasingly seeking to provide strategies to wealth management clients that respond to personalized investing demands, provide access to private and illiquid assets or limit taxes. After a decade in which investors gravitated to low-cost index funds, managers are emphasizing the benefit that can come from more actively managed strategies in a market with higher inflation and interest rates.
Separately managed accounts are a fast-growing segment in the US wealth industry — with assets expected to increase to about $4 trillion by 2026 from $2.7 trillion in the third quarter of 2023, BlackRock said in the statement, citing data from Cerulli Associates.
The acquisition is part of a series of deals by the world’s largest asset manager to become a one-stop shop for ETFs, mutual funds, financial markets advice and alternative assets. The company bought Kreos Capital last year to fuel its growth in private debt and announced its biggest deal in more than a decade in January, when it said it would acquire Global Infrastructure Partners for $12.5 billion.
The SpiderRock transaction is expected to close in the second quarter, and no financial terms were disclosed.
Preparing your clients to withstand the ups and downs of change – both external and internal – could be the key to unlocking their loyalty, trust, and confidence.
After leaving LPL in 2020, it hasn’t gone Cornick’s way at Osaic.
The finance professor and quant investing veteran believes with the right guardrails, artificial intelligence could be trusted to meet the high bar of fiduciary advice.
UBS has also regained some ground as it recruited an experienced Merrill advisor in New York.
The ex-Bay Area broker reportedly continued to peddle fake bond investments, promising rates of returns exceeding 20%, even after FINRA suspended his license in 2014.
Orion's Tom Wilson on delivering coordinated, high-touch service in a world where returns alone no longer set you apart.
Barely a decade old, registered index-linked annuities have quickly surged in popularity, thanks to their unique blend of protection and growth potential—an appealing option for investors looking to chart a steadier course through today's choppy market waters, says Myles Lambert, Brighthouse Financial.
