Our Path To Greatness Together

Reed Colley

When I founded Black Diamond in 2003, it was based on the premise of helping advisors be great. In the eight years since, we have learned, grown and evolved, but our plan to be a great partner for advisors has never changed. We strive to be a highly valued, trusted partner of our clients by providing the best portfolio accounting and performance reporting solutions with the best people and the best service. Since bringing the platform to market in late 2005, we have grown our client base to 280 firms representing $75B in AUM and nearly 200,000 accounts. During this time, we have continually searched for ways to increase our positive impact on our clients, our culture and our community.

Today, I am excited to announce that we have signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Advent Software, the pioneer and leader in the financial software space. Advent has long been a company I have admired for its transformative impact on the industry and now global reach. However, when we were first approached by them about working together, we had questions about how Advent viewed the marketplace and what they were looking to provide advisors. The things we learned were striking. From my very first conversation with them it was clear that Advent's leadership team is focused on doing the right things and delighting its clients. Based on this, we wanted to dig deeper and here’s what we found:

  1. They have great people, extremely similar values and even similar beginnings.
  2. They recognize the value of our platform and its power to help a practice grow, scale and attract new business.
  3. Combining our efforts is the right solution for the advisory market and will leverage both companies’ strengths to provide the best solution possible.

Personally, I see this as a chance for Black Diamond to take a big leap forward and am more excited than ever to continue the mission we started. Advent is looking to us to continue innovating and enhancing our platform, to develop for next generation devices and to further strengthen our culture of service and high performance for our clients. Black Diamond will remain an independent business group highly focused on the needs of the advisor. I will be leading the advisory strategy for Advent with the same values and principles that make Black Diamond what it is today – do the right things for the right reasons, the right way. Combining with Advent represents the opportunity to do more for advisors and accelerate our pace of innovation.

Black Diamond exists to cultivate greatness for our advisors and that will not change. Both Advent and Black Diamond are committed to a seamless transition and emerging as a stronger, more agile solution for our advisors. This combination represents the next chapter in supporting advisors on their path to greatness and I am excited to take the next step.


Reed Colley
CEO and Founder

Update: June 2nd, 2011

In the three weeks since announcing our partnership with Advent, we have traveled the country meeting with clients and partners, while connecting via phone and email with many more. It has been an amazing and positive experience. Open, honest dialogue is the lifeblood of our partnership and I want to personally thank all of you for your genuine and passionate feedback.

Today, we announce that we have officially closed the transaction, and Black Diamond is now leading the advisory strategy for Advent as an independent business unit. As we move forward, we carry with us the messages we heard from you:

  1. Keep your focus on partnership and client service
  2. Continue to innovate
  3. Don’t lose your culture

Advent and Black Diamond are committed to holding true to the vision and values that have defined us to this point, and I personally recognize that it is our job to continue to provide great solutions and service to keep earning your business. As an independent business unit within Advent, our service organization and agile product and engineering teams, among others, will continue to operate just as they have up to now and your team will remain the same. Additionally, with the support, resources and expertise of the broader Advent organization, we look forward to accelerating the pace of innovation by focusing on the following:

  1. Accelerated delivery of value-add features to the BlueSky platform based on your workflow and needs
  2. Direct leverage of Advent’s 28 years of expertise in portfolio accounting and data management resources, such as ACD and ACA
  3. Increased ease of data conversion for those wishing to move from other systems, including Advent’s Axys platform

I believe in the innovation and value the Black Diamond and Advent partnership can deliver to advisory firms – but I also realize talk is cheap, and we have to prove this combination is as beneficial as we expect it will be for you.

We look forward to the honest feedback of our clients and partners to ensure we continue to innovate in ways that best meet your evolving needs. We are excited about what lies ahead and I personally look forward to, and am humbled by, the opportunity to help you on your path to greatness.

Reed

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For more information and to view a copy of the Press Release, click here.