Merger has potential to extend PFPC's reach into independent broker market. Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group has agreed to buy portfolio-accounting technology provider Albridge Solutions. The main idea is to make Albridge part of PFPC Worldwide, PNC's mutual-fund transfer agency, with a view to bolstering PFPC's overall service offering to intermediaries.

"With the acquisition of Albridge Solutions, [PFPC] has added a key wealth-management capability to its range of products it offers to this market already," says Alois Pirker, a senior analyst with Aite Group, a Boston-based consultancy. "The consolidation of data from multiple custodians and the subsequent portfolio accounting -- the core capability of Albridge Solutions' platform -- are among the most important components involved when providing holistic wealth management."

Natural step

PFPC's chairman and CEO Timothy Shack says the acquisition of Albridge "creates synergies with many PFPC businesses, including our industry-leading sub-accounting services, our transfer-agency services and related AdvisorCentral portal, and our Advisorport managed account platform."

AdvisorCentral is a PFPC-owned internet portal that provides information, commentary and research on investment products and workplace tools to financial advisors.

Albridge's portfolio-accounting and wealth-management services are available to more than 100,000 financial advisors through 150 financial institutions.

Many Albridge users are "in the rapidly growing independent channel, [which] represents an important distribution avenue for PFPC's asset manager and broker-dealer clients," says Shack.

Greg Pacholski, president and CEO of Lawrenceville, N.J.-based Albridge, says the merger with PFPC "gives us a strong and stable partner to help us improve and continue to deliver great services to advisors based on technology. It's a natural step in our maturity as a firm."

Pacholski adds that Albridge plans to extend its product roster with services tailored to the needs of asset managers.

Neither company is saying what PNC will pay for Albridge. The deal will probably be sewed up by the end of March 2008 at the latest, perhaps sooner. -FWR

Purchase reproduction rights to this article.