BlackRock Goes Live with First-of-its-Kind Public-Private Model Portfolios, Enabling Easier Access to Private Markets

• Simplified Access Made Possible by GeoWealth and iCapital’s Technology
• Models provide customizable access to private markets alongside public markets in a single account

BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) today has gone live with a first-of-its-kind customizable public-private model portfolio within a Unified Managed Account (UMA). The models are powered by GeoWealth’s UMA technology and supported by iCapital’s underlying technology capabilities.

The launch marks the first time a customizable model portfolio that includes access to both private and public market assets is available through a UMA, featuring streamlined administration and custodial integration.

Advisors are increasingly turning to models-based solutions to meet demands for more tailored products and access to diversified exposures. This collaboration is designed to simplify and enhance advisors’ ability to allocate across public and private markets.

“This launch represents a significant step forward, helping advisors allocate across both public and private markets all in one unified, professionally managed portfolio,” said Jaime Magyera, Co-Head of BlackRock’s U.S. Wealth Advisory Business. “BlackRock’s mission is to make investing easier and help more people access the full power of capital markets. Through our partnership with GeoWealth and iCapital, we are doing just that, helping advisors deliver differentiated service and outcomes for their clients across their whole portfolio.”

BlackRock is a leading provider of models, with approximately $300 billion in assets in such models, globally. As more RIAs adopt model portfolios into their practices, managed models present a significant growth opportunity, driven by the customization, efficiency and scalability of these solutions. BlackRock expects managed model portfolios to roughly double in assets over the next four years, growing from $5 trillion today into a $10 trillion business. BlackRock’s custom models business is its fastest growing models segment, accounting for $50 billion in new assets over the past 5 years.

"We are proud to support the launch of the first customizable public-private model portfolio within a Unified Managed Account (UMA). This innovative solution enables advisors to easily incorporate alternative investments into their investment strategies for their clients in a simplified way, within a single account," said Lawrence Calcano, Chairman and CEO of iCapital. "We believe models will be an important way for advisors to allocate to private markets, and iCapital’s underlying technology allows our clients to customize what they want to buy or deliver into the market.”

Tech enhancements to better enable portfolio management and data analytics are also driving the growing adoption of model portfolios among RIAs. This growing theme underscores the broader benefits of the collaboration with iCapital, a global fintech platform helping drive the world’s alternative investment marketplace, and GeoWealth, a proprietary technology and turnkey asset management platform (TAMP) serving RIAs.

“Advisors and asset managers have long understood the role of private markets investments, the challenge has been the inability to systematically integrate and implement at scale in a wealth management practice,” said Colin Falls, CEO of GeoWealth. “GeoWealth’s UMA technology and workflow solutions, in partnership with BlackRock and iCapital, creates an entirely new paradigm for advisors considering a public-private portfolio.”

These models will provide advisors with intuitive workflows, efficient reporting tools, and comprehensive investment management capabilities throughout the investment’s lifecycle. iCapital’s Multi-Investment Workflow Tool streamlines the entire alternative assets investing experience.

BlackRock sees significant growth opportunity in the U.S. wealth market and is actively positioning the firm to become an integral, whole portfolio partner to advisors in an increasingly complex environment. Overall, BlackRock’s U.S. Wealth Advisory business is a key growth-driver for the firm, generating a quarter of BlackRock’s revenues in 2024.

BlackRock, GeoWealth and iCapital are separate and non-affiliated companies. GeoWealth provides rebalancing capabilities for portfolios containing private market vehicles. iCapital offers streamlined subscription document processing to invest in the private market vehicles. BlackRock is a strategic investor in GeoWealth and iCapital.

Incorporating products providing private market exposure into a portfolio presents the opportunity for significant losses, including in some cases losses which exceed the principal amount invested. Funds that seek to provide exposure to private assets (“private investment funds”) may have experienced periods of high volatility and in general, are not suitable for all investors. Asset allocation and diversification strategies do not ensure profit or protect against loss in declining markets. An investment in shares of the private investment funds should be considered illiquid. In addition, the securities in which the private investment funds invest may be valued at prices that the funds are unable to obtain upon sale due to factors such as incomplete data or market instability. Such private investment funds may not be able to realize the investment at the latest fair value price. End client account performance may differ due to the illiquidity of the private investment funds.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release, 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.

About BlackRock

BlackRock’s purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading provider of financial technology, we help millions of people build savings that serve them throughout their lives by making investing easier and more affordable. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/corporate | Twitter: @blackrock | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock

About GeoWealth

GeoWealth is a turnkey asset management platform (TAMP) and financial technology solution built specifically for the needs of modern RIAs. GeoWealth’s user-friendly, cost-efficient, integrated technology enables advisors to access a diversified lineup of model portfolios and fully offload mid-and back-office responsibilities, including performance reporting, billing, portfolio accounting and more. Via its customizable open-architecture platform, GeoWealth enables advisors and firms to grow faster and serve clients more efficiently. Founded in 2010, GeoWealth is headquartered in Chicago, IL. Visit us at geowealth.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

About iCapital

iCapital powers the world’s alternative investment marketplace, offering a complete suite of tools, end-to-end enterprise solutions, data management and distribution capabilities, and an innovative operating system. iCapital is the trusted technology partner to financial advisors, wealth managers, asset managers, as well as other participants in this ecosystem, and offers unrivaled access, technology, and education to incorporate alternative assets, structured investments (SI), and annuities into the core portfolio strategies for their clients.

At the forefront of the digital transformation in alternative investing, iCapital’s secure platform delivers a complete portfolio of management capabilities for education, transactions, data flows, analytics, and client support throughout the investment lifecycle. With $880 billion of global volume activity on platform, inclusive of $220 billion in global alternative assets, the iCapital operating system automates and streamlines the complex process of private market investing and seamlessly integrates with clients’ existing infrastructure platform and tools.

iCapital employs more than 1,750 people globally and has 16 offices worldwide, including New York, Greenwich, Zurich, Lisbon, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, and Toronto. iCapital has consistently been recognized for its outstanding innovation, fintech industry leadership, and performance, including CNBC World Top Fintech Companies for 2024, and Forbes Fintech 50 for seven consecutive years since 2018.

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