Two Sigma Built an Invite-Only Competitor to BlackRock’s Aladdin. Now, Any Institution Can Get It.

The basic version is free.

Illustration by II

Illustration by II

Quantitative investment firm Two Sigma is widely rolling out its software platform, called Venn, for institutional investors and wealth managers, the firm announced Wednesday.

About 200 organizations are already using the data and risk-management tool, having been part of its initial invite-only roll-out period.

Brown University and Grinnell College are among these early adoptees, as is the massive (and relatively tech-savvy) State of Wisconsin Investment Board, the announcement said. Other invited users include private-sector firms such as Prudential Financial, various funds-of-funds, and RIAs.

Institutions’ tech options have gone from famine to feast in only a few years. BlackRock’s Aladdin has long dominated for investment risk management, but various allocator-specific platforms are gaining ground, as well.

[II Deep Dive: Institutions Used to Be a Tech Backwater. No Longer.]

Two Sigma is offering the basic version of Venn for free, according to the announcement “For investors looking for powerful analysis of individual investments,” the basic version offers access to “100,000 public funds, stocks, and indices,” plus Two Sigma’s proprietary risk factors that help power Venn’s analysis.

The price tag for the deluxe version isn’t clear. Two Sigma is selling subscriptions to the Venn Pro software, which includes “additional features such as custodial integrations and portfolio optimization and special access to product specialists on the Venn team at Two Sigma.”

In September, MSCI and State Street revealed that they’d teamed up to improve risk capabilities for Charles River Development, State Street’s portfolio management software business.

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