SS&C scoops up Black Diamond-owner Advent

In the second major adviser technology acquisition of the day, SS&C Technology Holdings Inc. announced after the market close that it had agreed to pay $2.7 billion for Advent Software Inc., whose portfolio management software is widely used by financial advisers.
The deal will affect users of its own performance reporting and portfolio management software, Advent Portfolio Exchange, as well as Black Diamond, another portfolio management platform which Advent acquired in in 2011 and had been running as a separate business unit with at least $245 billion in assets under management and more than 540 clients.
Advent also has a number of other business lines providing software to around 4,300 customers in hedge funds, asset managers, prime brokerages and others in the financial services industry.
SS&C, which paid $814 million to acquire hedge fund administrator GlobeOp Financial Services SA, in 2012, according to Bloomberg, has a large presence in the hedge fund and family office side of the business. It counts 6,900 financial services organizations among its clients, according to a news release.
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The SS&C name is not as well known, however, in the investment adviser technology space, according to Joel Bruckenstein, a financial services technology expert and founder of the Technology Tools for Today conferences.
“I don’t know if they view Advent as a way of getting into this space or that’s secondary or tertiary to what this deal is about,” Mr. Bruckenstein said.
“I don’t think advisers should jump to any conclusions,” he added. “Let’s wait a while and let this play out.”
Bill Stone, the chief executive officer of SS&C, said in the release that he “look[s] forward to continuing Black Diamond’s Success.”
“Advent Portfolio Exchange and the entire product portfolio adds depth and breadth,” he added.
The acquisition follows the deal by Fidelity Investments to acquire eMoney Advisor, a top financial-planning software manufacturer, for an undisclosed sum. That deal was announced earlier Monday.
(More: Why advisers are worried about eMoney’s acquisition by Fidelity)
Rumors of the Advent deal had been circulating since at least last week.
Advent (ADVS) shares were up nearly 6% in after hours trading.