✦ Preqin and Indexing the UnindexableNarrow moat
BlackRock (BLK) — the future bets
The only bet here that would change what BlackRock is rather than what it sells.
BlackRock paid roughly $3.2 billion in cash for Preqin in March 20251, and it is the most interesting of the four bets because the ambition extends well beyond the revenue.
Preqin is the industry's principal source of fund-level data on private markets: performance, terms, holdings, fundraising. BlackRock describes the combination with eFront and Aladdin as creating a preeminent private markets technology and data provider2, and about $210 million of 2025 technology revenue came from it3.
The near-term case is straightforward. As clients' private-market allocations grow, they need standardised, transparent data on what they own — which BlackRock's own filing identifies as the growth opportunity4. Institutions with a fifth of their portfolio in private assets currently receive quarterly PDFs.
The larger case is the one worth paying attention to. Public markets became indexable because they became measurable: continuous prices produced benchmarks, benchmarks produced index funds, and index funds produced the largest asset-gathering machine in financial history. Private markets have never had the first step. Whoever supplies the reference data is positioned to build the benchmarks — and BlackRock owns both that and the distribution apparatus that turned indices into products last time.
That is a decade-long proposition with real obstacles: valuations are manager-supplied rather than observed, the assets do not trade, and the industry has good reasons to resist standardisation. But it is the only bet here that would change what BlackRock is rather than what it sells.
About $210 million of revenue in the first year, combined with eFront and Aladdin into what BlackRock calls a preeminent private markets data provider. The strategic prize is a decade away and the conflict with competing managers is immediate.
Preqin was bought to bring private-market data into Aladdin. Technology revenue growth is where its contribution shows; growth slowing to low single digits would suggest the data is not selling.
Source: BlackRock Form 10-Q, Q2 2026 ↗- ReportedBlackRock paid roughly $3.2 billion in cash for Preqin in March 2025, and it is the most interesting of the four bets because the ambition extends well beyond the revenueBlackRock, Inc. Form 10-K, FY2025, acquisitions and equity — Aperio (approximately $41 billion of AUM, February 2021), Kreos (approximately $2 billion, August 2023), SpiderRock (approximately $4 billion, May 2024), Global Infrastructure Partners (approximately $70 billion, October 2024), Preqin (March 2025), HPS Investment Partners (approximately $118 billion, closed 1 July 2025) and ElmTree (approximately $3 billion, September 2025); the HPS consideration was paid substantially in Class B-2 common units of a consolidated subsidiary, BlackRock Saturn Subco, LLC, "which are exchangeable on a one-for-one basis into common stock of the registrant", with 7,614,515 such units included in the fully diluted share count on the cover of the Form 10-K — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedBlackRock describes the combination with eFront and Aladdin as creating a preeminent private markets technology and data provider, and about $210 million of 2025 technology revenue came from itBlackRock, Inc. Form 10-K, FY2025, Item 1 Business — Aladdin Enterprise, Aladdin Risk, Aladdin Wealth, eFront, Preqin and Cachematrix; "while Aladdin is a multi-asset system, the majority of positions managed on the platform are fixed income"; the March 2025 Preqin acquisition "added private markets data capabilities to its existing Aladdin and eFront workflow offerings, creating a preeminent private markets technology and data provider" and "as clients' private market allocations continue to grow, they will require more standardized and transparent data on their investments, creating an additional growth opportunity for Preqin"; index AUM within or above applicable tolerance of 95%, 96% and 99% across the disclosed periods; retail investors "are served principally through intermediaries, including broker-dealers, banks, trust companies, insurance companies and independent financial advisors" and "technology solutions, digital distribution tools and a shift toward portfolio construction are increasing the number of financial advisors and end-retail investors using BlackRock products" — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedBlackRock describes the combination with eFront and Aladdin as creating a preeminent private markets technology and data provider, and about $210 million of 2025 technology revenue came from itBlackRock, Inc. Form 10-K, FY2025, Item 1 Business — Aladdin Enterprise, Aladdin Risk, Aladdin Wealth, eFront, Preqin and Cachematrix; "while Aladdin is a multi-asset system, the majority of positions managed on the platform are fixed income"; the March 2025 Preqin acquisition "added private markets data capabilities to its existing Aladdin and eFront workflow offerings, creating a preeminent private markets technology and data provider" and "as clients' private market allocations continue to grow, they will require more standardized and transparent data on their investments, creating an additional growth opportunity for Preqin"; index AUM within or above applicable tolerance of 95%, 96% and 99% across the disclosed periods; retail investors "are served principally through intermediaries, including broker-dealers, banks, trust companies, insurance companies and independent financial advisors" and "technology solutions, digital distribution tools and a shift toward portfolio construction are increasing the number of financial advisors and end-retail investors using BlackRock products" — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedAs clients' private-market allocations grow, they need standardised, transparent data on what they own — which BlackRock's own filing identifies as the growth opportunityBlackRock, Inc. Form 10-K, FY2025, Item 1 Business — assets under management of $14.0 trillion at 31 December 2025 (long-term $12,960,786M plus cash management $1,080,732M); equity $7,793,875M, fixed income $3,272,021M, multi-asset $1,223,625M, alternatives $423,614M, digital assets $78,435M, currency and commodities $169,216M; five-year AUM CAGR 10%, alternatives 22%, multi-asset 13%, equity 12%, currency and commodities 17%, fixed income 4%; by style, active $3,432,743M, non-ETF index $4,060,333M, ETFs $5,467,710M; approximately 24,900 employees in more than 30 countries serving clients in over 100 — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗