Abrdn and Citi consider offering investors tokenized stakes in buildings
Abrdn is partnering with Citi to allow investors to purchase digital tokens in funds, buildings and infrastructure assets.
FTSE-100 firm Abrdn plans to provide access to real-world assets by harnessing the power of blockchain technology, the Times first reported.
Tokenized assets represent value digitally so they can be more easily traded and some economic analysts believe blockchain will form the basis of a future global trading system. Abrdn, which manages £532bn of client and customer assets, has the scale to open up blockchain technology and tokenized trading to millions of people.
“Our existing capability set, from a real assets perspective, is really great if you’re an institutional investor and there’s quite traditional ways of accessing real estate,” Neil Meikle, the global head of real estate product strategy at Abrdn, told the Times.
Meikle revealed that Abrdn has held informal discussions with the FCA and said the company wanted “to make sure that we’re out in front in terms of vehicle evolution and the way that you and I and institutions and sovereign wealth funds and all the other global institutional investors access real assets”.
Abrdn confirmed it is exploring tokenized assets to Morning Wire, but gave no further comment.
Citi, which declined to comment on the alleged partnership with Abrdn, has a long standing interest in digital assets with the international investment giant hiring 100 new staff in November to bring crypto expertise to the team.