Schroders has taken a strategic minority stake in Forteus, an asset manager focused on blockchain technology and digital assets.

Forteus is the asset management arm of the Numeus Group, a diversified digital asset investment firm.

Numeus, a Swiss company led by Nobel Gulati, former CEO of Two Sigma Advisers, was founded by a team of finance, blockchain and technology professionals with a background in working on digital assets for global institutions.

Schroders said it had chosen to invest in a specialist in blockchain technology and digital assets in order to support its ongoing education and research in this sector and to develop investment solutions for the benefit of its clients.

The asset manager, which has £732 billion under management, said that learning from Numeus’ platform will enable Schroders to harness the benefits of blockchain for the asset management industry and develop the company’s tokenisation strategy.

As part of the strategic partnership, Forteus will offer a range of investment solutions which spans customised portfolios of external managers, yield generation, actively managed thematic portfolios and, over the long term, tokenisation.

Once available, Schroders will give clients access to Forteus capabilities where appropriate, the company said.

Peter Harrison, group chief executive, Schroders said:“Blockchain will be a catalyst for fundamental change within asset management, financial services at large, and many other industries more broadly.

“It not only has the potential to transform the efficiency of existing solutions but will drive the democratisation of private assets; it represents a new frontier of technological and financial innovation.”

Nobel Gulati, Numeus group chief executive said:“We are very excited to welcome Schroders as a founding investor in Forteus. Together, we will build upon Numeus’ expertise in digital assets, technology and quantitative research combined with Schroders’ leading brand, vast capabilities in asset management and global distribution.

“This will enable us to serve investors who up until now have struggled to access robust investment opportunities in this fast-evolving asset class.”

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