As interest in tokenisation gathers momentum across global financial markets, London-based asset management Schroders is steadily carving out its own path through this evolving terrain.
Speaking in an in-depth interview, Jon Evans, a senior representative of Schroders’ digital strategy team, outlined the firm’s measured yet forward-looking approach to blockchain-based fund structures.
Evans is quick to temper expectations that tokenisation is a magic bullet. “We don’t think tokenisation is the end goal,” he said. “It’s a tool – a means to an end. What we’re interested in is what it enables us to do better, whether that’s improving outcomes for clients or streamlining our internal operations.”
The concept of tokenised funds – digital representations of assets recorded on a blockchain – has gained currency among institutional investors in recent years, promising benefits such as greater transparency, faster settlement, and reduced administrative costs.
Yet Evans emphasized that Schroders views this innovation not as an end in itself but as part of a broader push toward what the firm calls “composable finance”: a vision of tailored investment offerings built on interoperable, digital infrastructure.
A Learning Curve Through Pilots
Schroders has not yet launched a publicly available tokenized fund, but its interest is far from theoretical. Evans pointed to two key initiatives that have helped build internal expertise.
The firm’s first major foray came with an investment in a digital bond issued by the European Investment Bank three years ago. Though largely an “educational exercise,” it allowed Schroders to process the bond through its entire internal system — from operations to compliance — offering valuable insights into how such instruments interact with legacy infrastructure.
More recently, Schroders piloted a tokenised insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund, accessible only internally within the firm. “That project gave us a better understanding of the risk landscape, especially around using public blockchains,” Evans noted. Though not a commercial product, the pilot deepened the firm’s understanding of the technical and regulatory nuances involved in digital asset management.
Demand-driven Outcomes
Evans challenged the notion that client demand is directly centered on tokenised funds per se. “What we’re hearing from clients isn’t so much ‘we want a tokenised fund’ — it’s more that they want better outcomes, more customisation, and potentially lower costs. Tokenisation is one possible route to those outcomes,” he said.
He added that Schroders is actively exploring several tokenisation initiatives, though none are ready to be disclosed publicly. “It’s too early to talk specifics,” Evans said, adding that the firm would provide updates when the time is right.
The firm’s most ambitious thinking is centered on what it calls “composable finance” — the idea that tokenisation, artificial intelligence, and data infrastructure could converge to deliver highly customized investment solutions.
“This is potentially the future state — something more bespoke for clients, not just standard growth asset plays,” said Evans. “Other firms refer to this as mass customisation, but the underlying idea is the same: delivering something tailored, data-driven and efficient.”
However, Evans emphasised that this vision requires collective effort. “We can’t do this alone,” he said. “The whole ecosystem — from infrastructure providers to regulators and even our competitors — needs to evolve together.”
Regulatory Clarity and Market Maturity Still Needed
According to Evans, the biggest challenges remain structural. Risk management, regulatory uncertainty, and immature service provider ecosystems continue to slow progress. “We see risk management as our core responsibility to clients. The regulatory landscape is still evolving, but we’ve seen encouraging steps — for instance, the recent passage of the Genius Act [the US’s first major national cryptocurrency legislation].”
Evans also stressed the importance of client education. “Increasing digital literacy helps clients ask the right questions and better understand the protections we’ve put in place,” he said.
The Funds Europe – CACEIS Digital Assets Survey of industry attitudes towards tokenisation broadly echoes Schroders’ thinking. Evans noted with interest that over 90% of respondents expected tokenisation to become established in Europe within five years, and 51% said they anticipate tokenised funds becoming far more prevalent.
“The market attitude is clearly positive, and that’s encouraging,” Evans said. “But meaningful adoption will require interoperability — systems need to talk to each other.”
On the ongoing debate between public and private blockchains, Evans observed a historical bias toward private chains among institutional players but sees this gradually shifting.
“Public chains offer better interoperability, and with regulatory changes, we think the balance between public and private chains will continue to evolve,” he said.
Despite the buzz surrounding tokenisation for more than a decade, Evans doesn’t see the relatively slow uptake as a failure. “Think about the internet — it was around long before businesses adopted it en masse. We’re seeing similar inertia here, though things do move faster now.”
The analogy is apt: just as the early internet needed years of standardisation, infrastructure and trust-building before reaching critical mass, so too does the tokenisation movement. “We’re not surprised by the pace. This kind of transformation requires deep change — across regulation, tech and culture.”
Looking Ahead
As for whether Schroders will launch a tokenised fund within the next five years, Evans declined to comment. But the company’s quiet yet concerted efforts suggest the groundwork is being laid.
“The real prize is not tokenization for its own sake, but delivering a fundamentally better, more bespoke experience for clients. That’s what we’re working toward,” Evans said.
In the fast-evolving world of digital finance, Schroders is choosing evolution and positioning itself for the long game.
The Funds Europe-Caceis report into tokenisation can be viewed by following this link.
