BlackRock and automated trading: soon coming directly to you

BlackRock is a New York-based multi-national investment firm that manages a little over $10 trillion in assets.

For reference, the national debt of the USA is currently sitting at $32 trillion. With those kinds of funds, BlackRock could afford to clear a third of US debt in one swoop.

The magic question

How exactly does a single company manage to handle such immense amounts of money?

Every Bonnie has their Clyde, and every BlackRock has their Aladdin. Aladdin is a proprietary financial software that aids in the statistical risk management of BlackRock’s 30,000 portfolios.

In one way or another, advanced software is the backbone of America’s largest firm.

The software: Aladdin

The software essentially tracks the market and acts accordingly to predict its moves.

This functions as an algorithm designed to buy and sell assets following stringent rules inputted by teams of analysts. Although there is a human element, the software is relied on for processing.

Robots for everyone!

Although this software has been utilised for incredible profits by the largest investment firms for the past decade, it has been generally inaccessible to the general public. Up until now, at least.

Automated trading bots that work on the very same principles as BlackRock’s Aladdin have recently been made available to the masses.

Whether stocks, bonds or cryptocurrency, you can use an intelligent trading bot to make investment decisions for you with a statistical advantage.

Advantages in an uneasy market

With automated trading, even markets as recently turbulent as bitcoin can be navigated with a bitcoin bot. Automated trading bots operate around volatility with cold, calculated efficiency.

Due to computers not really having the same sort of fleshy, emotional tendencies as us, it is impossible for them to act impulsively. In a turbulent economic period, this ability to automate holding on to investments without folding is the differentiating factor of intelligent investors.

A word of caution: read the reviews

Despite the charming nature of a robot that turns a profit and handles your finances, there is a caveat.

Auto-trading software is nothing new, but the publicly available bots are. Due to this, the sector is heavily unregulated and prone to the classic pitfalls of any new industry.

Choosing a bot that is functional and trustworthy is a skill in and of itself. The intense research required, however, can be trivialized by sites that carry out the research for you.

They often test and experiment with each individual bot compared against itself and take the guesswork out of your hands and into theirs. This allows you to choose the right sort of bot without any hassle.

Auto-trading: The future (almost…)

Automated trading is arguably the past of large investment firms, yet the future of personal financial investments. Never before has someone been able to so effortlessly walk away from their armchair trading floor and let the computer do all the work.

Regardless, sound investment tactics are still to be employed. There’s no point in letting a computer run your finances to the ground if your financial gut feeling tells you to pull your money out of a company.

Common sense and good business practice, naturally, will always be king.

FinTechStaff WriterComment