Schroders has taken a “strategic minority stake” in blockchain technology and digital assets-focused asset manager Forteus, the company revealed on Tuesday.
No details were provided about how big the stake is or how much Schroders has paid.
Forteus is the asset management arm of the Numeus Group, a diversified digital asset investment firm with offices in Zug, Switzerland; London; and New York.
Led by Nobel Gulati, the former CEO of Two Sigma Advisers, Numeus was founded by a team of finance, blockchain and technology professionals.
Schroders said it has chosen to invest in Forteus to “support its ongoing education and research in this sector and to develop investment solutions for the benefit of its clients”.
The firm added: “Learning from the Numeus research and technology platform will enable Schroders to harness the transformational benefits that blockchain can bring to the asset management industry and develop our tokenisation strategy.”
Forteus will offer a range of investment solutions which span customised portfolios of external managers, yield generation, actively managed thematic portfolios and, over the long term, tokenisation.
Once available, Schroders said it will give clients access to Forteus capabilities, “where appropriate”.
Peter Harrison (pictured), group CEO of 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.”
Gulati added: “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.”
