Broadridge Financial buys blockchain platform
Broadridge Financial Solutions employees work at their investor communications facility in Edgewood on May 3, 2018. Credit: Johnny Milano
Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. is expanding its use of blockchain technology to serve private equity investors.
The investor communications company in Lake Success has purchased a “distributed ledger technology” or blockchain platform for the private equity industry from Northern Trust for an undisclosed amount, officials said Wednesday.
Blockchain is best known for underpinning cryptocurrency transactions.
A year ago, Broadridge won a patent that applies blockchain to proxy voting at annual shareholders’ meetings of public companies. It used the technology to count shareholder votes for Banco Santander, the giant Spanish bank.
Broadridge executives said it would further develop the Northern Trust platform to help private equity firms communicate with investors and manage investments. The bank launched the platform in 2017.
The private equity industry “is expanding rapidly, and the technology needs of this evolving marketplace are underserved,” said Eric Bernstein, head of asset management solutions for Broadridge.
The Northern Trust platform will initially be used by private equity funds in Delaware and in Guernsey in the Channel Islands, including those administered by the bank.
Pete Cherecwich, president of corporate and institutional services at Northern Trust, said Broadridge is the “ideal firm to open up this innovative technology to the marketplace.”
Broadridge delivers billions of documents to shareholders each year and processes trillions of dollars in stock trades each day. It has 2,300 employees on Long Island, many of them at factories in Edgewood.
James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.
