BlackRock, a new-age financial cyborg?

So what is BlackRock's secret, really? We've suggested over on FierceFinanceIT that the firm's acclaimed Aladdin analytics and data engine may be one big reason. But Morningstar suggests another: its ability to integrate acquisitions. 

State Street Research and Merrill Lynch Investment Management were both purchased and integrated with an efficiency that would make a cyborg proud. We can only hope that the Barclays Global Investors integration is going as well. Successful asset-management mergers have been rare, to be sure. But BlackRock has apparently pulled it off.

Merrill Lynch indeed was known for some ill-advised deals. Is the best yet to come? "The acquisition of BGI could prove to be one of the single most transformative events in the asset-management industry," says the analyst. It does make a lot of sense on paper--active and passive coming together. We'll see if Larry Fink's win streak continues.

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