State Street has entered into an agreement to acquire Mercatus and, in connection with the acquisition, the company will launch its State Street AlphaSM for Private Markets solution.
AlphaSM for Private Markets allows institutional investors to fully manage the entire lifecycle of their infrastructure, private equity, real estate, private debt and fund of funds investments through a fully integrated, digital front-to-back, single platform, including providing whole portfolio exposure to managers investing in both public and private markets.
Mercatus, the acquired firm, is a premier front-and-middle-office solutions and data management provider for private market managers. The firm has operations in the US, UK, and India, and manages more than $1 trillion invested capital across its global private markets client base.
Spiros Giannaros, president and chief executive officer of Charles River Development, a State Street Company, said: “Investors in private markets have historically struggled with inefficient and manual processes because existing solutions are too fragmented and rigid to meet their changing investment requirements.
“Mercatus’s focus and solution for private markets augments Charles River’s market leading platform for public markets, enabling us to support clients across the full spectrum of their investment needs.”
AlphaSM for Private Markets also addresses cloud-based asset management, deal management, ESG, investor relations, and portfolio monitoring.
More granular visibility into asset and fund-level data is another feature that will help solve challenges caused by increased fund complexity, more sophisticated investors, the need for better transparency and regulatory obligations.
Haresh Patel, chief executive officer of Mercatus, commented: “Investors in both public and private markets are realizing the risk and inefficiencies created across their bespoke front, middle, and back office solutions. We are excited to join forces with State Street and Charles River Development to achieve a new one office vision and deliver a fully integrated front to back; public to private; technology, data, and services offering all under one platform.”
“Institutional investors are turning to the private markets as the hunt for alpha intensifies,” said Paul Fleming, executive vice president and global head of State Street’s Alternatives Segment. “Expanding our alternative offerings will help us meet the multifaceted needs of these investors and provide our clients with even more solutions.”
In 2019, the company launched State Street AlphaSM, the industry’s first front-to-back offering based on the principles of openness and interoperability.
State Street has recently launched a new division focused on its current digital capabilities and on expanding activity on crypto, central bank digital currency, blockchain, and tokenization.
State Street Digital will enhance its proprietary GlobalLink technology platform into a digital multi-asset platform to support crypto assets among other asset classes and the bank’s peer-to-peer ambitions by creating new liquidity venues for clients and investors worldwide.
