Preqin

Market position

Preqin describes itself as a leading provider of financial data and information for the alternative assets industry and claims the world's largest private equity database. It competes with PitchBook, S&P Capital IQ, Burgess, Octum AI, Tracxn, Crunchbase and other financial database providers. Its awards include a 2024 King's Award for International Trade, Queen's Awards for Enterprise in International Trade in 2016 and 2019, six category wins at the 2024 Institutional Asset Manager Service Provider Awards, a 2025 WealthBriefing European Awards win in the Data Provider category, and a first-place ranking for Benchmark Tools & Datasets in the Probitas Partners Private Equity Survey for two consecutive years.

Preqin positions its differentiation on more than two decades of proprietary private markets data collection methodology, an analytics platform with workflow tools, a client services team that operates around the clock as an extension of client research teams, and breadth of coverage across eight alternative asset classes. Since the BlackRock acquisition, it also emphasizes standardized benchmarks and indices distributed through Aladdin.

Technology

The company has built an analytics platform that combines its proprietary alternative assets datasets with search, visual analytics and workflow tools. Data collection methods were developed over more than two decades, initially drawing on the UK Freedom of Information Act to obtain private equity performance data. Delivery channels include the Preqin Pro web software, a mobile app, APIs and data feeds, and integrations with third-party software providers; Preqin Benchmarks and Indices are also distributed through BlackRock's Aladdin platform.

Go-to-market

The company markets through demo requests for Preqin Pro and Insights+, a free account tier offering selected reports, benchmarks and datasets, published research such as the Preqin Global Reports and Preqin First Close newsletter, webinar series, client case studies, and distribution partnerships and integrations with third-party platforms including BlackRock's Aladdin.

Preqin serves alternative assets professionals including fund managers, institutional investors, investment consultants, banks, placement agents and third-party marketers, fund and transaction services firms, consulting and corporate advisory firms, and academic institutions. Named clients and case studies include Investec, Natixis IM, Objective, Unigestion, Capstone Partners, VI Asset Management, Breakout Funds, Greenstone and Lakeshore Capital.

Geography

Preqin is headquartered in London and serves a global client base, with research and data covering private markets in North America, Europe and other regions; the company has received awards recognizing international trade and has run regional award programs including the WealthBriefing MENA Awards.

History

Founded in 2003 as Private Equity Intelligence, the company expanded its coverage across alternative asset classes and grew into a data provider for the alternatives industry. It published its Women in Alternatives research report in 2018, won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2016 and 2019, and was a national winner at the 2019 European Business Awards and a member of the Sunday Times International Track 200 that year. In August 2021 it fully acquired Colmore, a private markets technology, services and administration business. BlackRock announced on 1 July 2024 that it would acquire Preqin for £2.55 billion in order to combine Preqin's data and research tools with Aladdin, and the transaction was completed in March 2025 at a reported value of US$3.2 billion. Preqin now operates as a BlackRock subsidiary and is branded "Preqin, a part of BlackRock".