BlackRock and MarketAxess Announce the Creation of a Unified, Electronic Trading Solution in the U.S. Credit Markets
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 23, 2013--
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) and
MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTX)
today announced a strategic alliance to create a unified, open trading
solution in the U.S. credit markets.
The alliance between BlackRock’s Aladdin Trading Network (ATN) and
MarketAxess, the industry leader in electronic credit trading, is
designed to help reduce liquidity fragmentation and improve pricing
across credit markets, while expanding both firms’ open trading efforts.
MarketAxess will run electronic trading and broker dealer operations,
which will be connected to BlackRock’s enterprise investment system,
Aladdin, that hosts $14 trillion in BlackRock and Aladdin client assets.
BlackRock will provide buy side leadership, input on strategic
direction, and innovations in trade execution capabilities for clients.
The two firms will work together on product and business development.
The alliance evolves Aladdin Trading Network into a fixed income trading
portal that consolidates fragmented liquidity for the benefit of Aladdin
clients, significantly expanding access from within Aladdin to the
broader marketplace. The partnership leverages the connectivity and
distribution capabilities of MarketAxess to enhance access to liquidity
and improve pricing for BlackRock asset management and Aladdin clients
quickly and effectively. More than 1,000 asset managers, insurance
companies, other investor firms and broker-dealers are active users of
the MarketAxess platform.
“This partnership enables Aladdin clients to tap into a deeper liquidity
pool without ever having to leave Aladdin, while maintaining their
existing trade workflow,” said Ryan Stork, Managing Director and Global
Head of BlackRock’s Aladdin Business. “Aladdin Trading Network serves to
improve liquidity and enhance the Aladdin value proposition, and this
alliance is a critical step forward in evolving open trading solutions
on behalf of our clients.”
MarketAxess has developed a robust suite of electronic trading
solutions, helping its clients to source liquidity by allowing them to
efficiently reach the extensive MarketAxess community of institutional
credit market participants. The alliance with BlackRock combines order
flow from the world’s largest asset manager and its community of Aladdin
users with MarketAxess’ broad network of investors and dealers to create
a centralized credit trading marketplace.
“Through this strategic alliance with BlackRock we are delivering on our
commitment to provide an independent, comprehensive electronic trading
platform to address liquidity challenges in the credit markets,” said
Richard M. McVey, Chief Executive Officer of MarketAxess. “The work with
BlackRock will comprise our full range of e-trading options including
multi-dealer RFQ, Market Lists, Client Axes and electronic order
matching. We will benefit from BlackRock’s influence and thought
leadership in developing new solutions for credit trading, and from
seamlessly connecting to their extensive Aladdin community. We think
this alliance further validates the advantages of the MarketAxess
platform as the logical venue for credit market liquidity to converge
and help reduce fragmentation.”
“Our two firms have a long-standing relationship, complementary
strengths and a shared belief that the gradual shift towards more open
trading in fixed income will require broad participation from the buy
side and behavioral change among investors,” said Richard Prager,
Managing Director and Head of BlackRock’s Trading & Liquidity Strategies
Group. “The beta launch of Aladdin Trading Network in 2012 allowed us to
test our trading approach successfully within the Aladdin community and
prove the model with clients. Our alliance with MarketAxess is a logical
evolution and we continue to anticipate changing trading practices and
pursue innovative liquidity solutions across asset classes.”
BlackRock and MarketAxess have executed a Letter of Intent and
commencement of operations is subject to finalization of a definitive
agreement, which the parties expect to complete within the next several
weeks. Project planning for technology integration is already in process.
About BlackRock
BlackRock is a leader in investment management, risk management and
advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. At
March 31, 2013, BlackRock’s AUM was $3.936 trillion. BlackRock offers
products that span the risk spectrum to meet clients’ needs, including
active, enhanced and index strategies across markets and asset classes.
Headquartered in New York City, as of March 31, 2013, the firm has
approximately 10,600 employees in 30 countries and a major presence in
key global markets, including North and South America, Europe, Asia,
Australia and the Middle East and Africa.
About BlackRock Solutions
BlackRock Solutions provides clients with access to the intellectual
capital, risk analytics and investment platform used to support
BlackRock’s asset management business. By combining sophisticated risk
analytics and investment systems with capital markets and business
process expertise, BlackRock Solutions helps clients address a variety
of risk management and investment process challenges. The BlackRock
Solutions’ Aladdin platform is currently used to analyze and process
over $14 trillion in assets, liabilities and derivatives as of March 31,
2013.
For additional information, please visit www.blackrocksolutions.com.
About MarketAxess
MarketAxess operates a leading electronic trading platform that enables
fixed income market participants to efficiently trade corporate bonds
and other types of fixed income instruments using MarketAxess’ patented
trading technology. Over 1,000 investor and broker-dealer firms are
active users of the MarketAxess trading platform, accessing global
liquidity in U.S. high-grade corporate bonds, European bonds, high yield
and emerging markets bonds, agency bonds, asset-backed and preferred
securities and credit default swaps. MarketAxess also offers a number of
trading-related products and services, including: market data to assist
clients with trading decisions; connectivity solutions that facilitate
straight-through processing; technology services to optimize trading
environments; and execution services for exchange-traded fund managers
and other clients. Through its Xtrakter subsidiary, MarketAxess also
offers a range of pre- and post-trade services including trade matching,
regulatory transaction reporting and market and reference data across a
range of fixed income products.
MarketAxess maintains its headquarters in New York and has offices in
London, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Hong Kong, Singapore and São Paulo.
For additional information, please visit www.marketaxess.com.
BlackRock Forward-Looking Statements
This report, and other statements that BlackRock may make, may contain
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act, with respect to BlackRock’s future financial or
business performance, strategies or expectations. Forward-looking
statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as “trend,”
“potential,” “opportunity,” “pipeline,” “believe,” “comfortable,”
“expect,” “anticipate,” “current,” “intention,” “estimate,” “position,”
“assume,” “outlook,” “continue,” “remain,” “maintain,” “sustain,”
“seek,” “achieve,” and similar expressions, or future or conditional
verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may” and similar
expressions.
BlackRock cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to
numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and
BlackRock assumes no duty to and does not undertake to update
forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from
those anticipated in forward-looking statements and future results could
differ materially from historical performance.
In addition to risk factors previously disclosed in BlackRock’s
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) reports and those identified
elsewhere in this report the following factors, among others, could
cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking
statements or historical performance: (1) the introduction, withdrawal,
success and timing of business initiatives and strategies; (2) changes
and volatility in political, economic or industry conditions, the
interest rate environment, foreign exchange rates or financial and
capital markets, which could result in changes in demand for products or
services or in the value of assets under management; (3) the relative
and absolute investment performance of BlackRock’s investment products;
(4) the impact of increased competition; (5) the impact of future
acquisitions or divestitures; (6) the unfavorable resolution of legal
proceedings; (7) the extent and timing of any share repurchases; (8) the
impact, extent and timing of technological changes and the adequacy of
intellectual property and information security protection; (9) the
impact of legislative and regulatory actions and reforms, including the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and
regulatory, supervisory or enforcement actions of government agencies
relating to BlackRock or The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”);
(10) terrorist activities, international hostilities and natural
disasters, which may adversely affect the general economy, domestic and
local financial and capital markets, specific industries or BlackRock;
(11) the ability to attract and retain highly talented professionals;
(12) fluctuations in the carrying value of BlackRock’s economic
investments; (13) the impact of changes to tax legislation, including
income, payroll and transaction taxes, and taxation on products or
transactions, which could affect the value proposition to clients and,
generally, the tax position of the Company; (14) BlackRock’s success in
maintaining the distribution of its products; (15) the impact of
BlackRock electing to provide support to its products from time to time
and any potential liabilities related to securities lending or other
indemnification obligations; and (16) the impact of problems at other
financial institutions or the failure or negative performance of
products at other financial institutions.
BlackRock's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
and BlackRock's subsequent filings with the SEC, accessible on the SEC's
website at www.sec.gov
and on BlackRock’s website at www.blackrock.com,
discuss these factors in more detail and identify additional factors
that can affect forward looking statements. The information contained on
the Company’s website is not a part of this press release.
MarketAxess Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including
statements about the outlook and prospects for Company and industry
growth, as well as statements about the Company’s future financial and
operating performance. These and other statements that relate to future
results and events are based on MarketAxess’ current expectations.
Actual results in future periods may differ materially from those
currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and
uncertainties, including: the volatility of financial services markets
generally; the level of trading volume transacted on the MarketAxess
platform; the absolute level and direction of interest rates and the
corresponding volatility in the corporate fixed-income market; the level
and intensity of competition in the fixed-income electronic trading
industry and the pricing pressures that may result; the variability of
our growth rate; the rapidly evolving nature of the electronic financial
services industry; our ability to introduce new fee plans and our
clients’ response; our exposure to risks resulting from non-performance
by counterparties to transactions executed between our clients in which
we act as an intermediary in matching back-to-back trades; our
dependence on our broker-dealer clients; the loss of any of our
significant institutional investor clients; our ability to develop new
products and offerings and the market’s acceptance of those products;
the effect of rapid market or technological changes on us and the users
of our technology; our ability to successfully maintain the integrity of
our trading platform and our response to system failures, capacity
constraints and business interruptions; our vulnerability to cyber
security risks; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights
or technology and defend against intellectual property infringement or
other claims; our ability to enter into strategic alliances and to
acquire other businesses and successfully integrate them with our
business; our ability to comply with new laws, rules and regulations
both domestically and internationally; our ability to maintain effective
compliance and risk management methods; the strain of growth initiatives
on management and other resources; our future capital needs and our
ability to obtain capital when needed; limitations on our operating
flexibility contained in our credit agreement; and other factors. The
Company’s actual results and financial condition may differ, perhaps
materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition in any
such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to
update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. More information about these
and other factors affecting MarketAxess’ business and prospects is
contained in MarketAxess’ periodic filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission and can be accessed at www.marketaxess.com.
Source: BlackRock, Inc. and MarketAxess Holdings Inc.
BlackRock Media Relations:
Tara McDonnell, 212-810-5337
Tara.McDonnell@blackrock.com
or
BlackRock
Investor Relations:
Kristen Dickey, 212-810-5572
Kristen.Dickey@blackrock.com
or
MarketAxess
Media Relations:
Florencia Panizza, 212-813-6029
Fpanizza@marketaxess.com
or
MarketAxess
Investor Relations:
Tony DeLise, 212-813-6017
Tdelise@marketaxess.com