Legal & General (L&G), Managing $1.5 Trillion, Plans To Enter Blockchain Tokenization, Joining Firms Like BlackRock And Abrdn.

• Ed Wicks of LGIM highlights the goal to digitize liquidity funds, aiming to reduce costs and improve access.
• L&G’s early blockchain initiatives since 2019 underscore its commitment to leveraging technology to advance its financial services.

Legal & General (L&G), a pension and investment management company based in London with assets under management totaling $1.5 trillion, is gearing up to make its entry into the sector of blockchain-based tokenization. 

This aligns L&G with major traditional financial players such as BlackRock , Franklin Templeton, and Abrdn, which have already launched financial products powered by blockchain technology.

Tokenization, the process of converting traditional assets such as U.S. Treasuries-backed money-market funds into crypto tokens on a blockchain, is increasingly adopted by mainstream financial firms. This trend was notably accelerated by BlackRock’s launch of its BUIDL fund on the Ethereum blockchain, demonstrating the viability of blockchain technology in conventional financial operations.

Ed Wicks, Global Head of Trading at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), state:

“We are evaluating ways to make the Legal & General Investment Management Liquidity funds available in tokenized format.” 

He expressed that the digitization of the funds industry is essential for enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and making diverse investment solutions more accessible to a broader audience.

“Digitization of the funds industry is key to improving efficiency, reducing cost and making a broad range of investment solutions available to a wider range of investors. We look forward to continued progress in this space,” Wicks said.

The adoption of tokenization promises to streamline operations and decrease operational expenses, potentially broadening access to premium investment opportunities that were previously available primarily to wealthier individuals or institutional investors . This technological advancement is expected to simplify the investment process for all investors.

L&G’s interest in blockchain technology began in 2019 when the firm announced it would use Amazon Web Services’ managed blockchain system to handle and document bulk annuities for its insurance business. This early adoption underscores L&G’s commitment to integrating advanced technology to improve its offerings.