Asset owners and managers not deploying blockchain says study

Only 7% of asset owners and managers currently have blockchain initiatives underway according to new research from State Street.

This is in spite of 57% believing that the distributed ledger technology will be widely adopted in the industry over the next five years.

“A majority of institutional investors are well aware that blockchain, an ‘emerging technology,’ could become an everyday application in the near future,” said Antoine Shagoury, global chief information officer at State Street.

“What’s clear from our research is a lack of readiness and uncertainty for how to best plan for this disruption, and a need for more education.”

In other findings 74% of asset owners suggest that they believe blockchain will achieve the necessary scale for adoption compared to only 42% of asset managers.

Additionally, 48% of asset owners admitting they do not know enough about the technology while 78% of asset managers feeling that they need more education.

Blockchain technology has been hailed by custodians as being the future of the industry with potential to streamline processes such as settlement, clearing and corporate actions.

Speaking to Global Custodian in February Francis Jackson, global head of client coverage for asset managers, pensions and sovereign wealth at RBC Investor & Treasury services suggested that blockchain would not act as a ‘silver bullet’ and overhaul the entire industry.

More recent blockchain publicity has included a Swift report concluding that distributed ledger technology in its current state cannot fulfil the requirements of the financial industry.