Azimut collaborates with Clearstream to create a blockchain-based system for managing private funds
In a groundbreaking move, Deutsche Boerse's Clearstream, in partnership with global asset management group Azimut, has announced a new DLT-based solution for private market funds. This innovative offering aims to reduce costs through automation and provide greater transparency, while also offering a liquidity option to unlock the illiquidity premium embedded in private asset portfolios.
Azimut, with its extensive experience in DLT, digital assets, and tokenization, has been at the forefront of leveraging blockchain technology. The asset manager's digital transformation journey includes direct investments into blockchain infrastructure, such as its $156 million club deal investment in Alps Blockchain, an Italian company operating large-scale Bitcoin mining facilities in Oman.
The new solution, part of Clearstream's automated fund processing platform, Vestima, caters to wealth managers and their clients. It supports the permissioned sharing of information between the asset manager, distributor, and client investor, including regular reporting and asset servicing. Azimut was the first asset manager to use FundsDLT when it launched in 2021, the funds distribution platform that Clearstream acquired in late 2023.
The tokenization of assets was executed using the tokenization platform of Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum. Azimut has successfully tokenized portfolios of corporate loans, private equity investments, and fund units. In 2021, the asset manager executed its first tokenization of €5 million ($5.7m) in loans to SMEs.
Giorgio Medda, CEO of Azimut Holding, stated that the Clearstream offering will provide broader access to private market strategies. Philippe Seyll, CEO of Clearstream Fund Services, added that the goal is to set new standards while maintaining the highest levels of security, compliance, and investor trust.
Azimut's commitment to innovation and delivering enhanced investment opportunities is evident through its digital asset investments, including its leadership role in an investment round in Sygnum in early 2024. This partnership is set to redefine the private market funds landscape, offering a more efficient, transparent, and secure way for wealth managers and their clients to invest in private market strategies.
- Azimut, with its expertise in blockchain technology, digital assets, and tokenization, has been instrumental in the development of a new DLT-based solution for private market funds, in partnership with Deutsche Boerse's Clearstream.
- The tokenization of assets within this innovative offering is facilitated by the tokenization platform of Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum, where Azimut has successfully tokenized various assets, such as corporate loans, private equity investments, and fund units.
- With the implementation of this solution, Azimut aims to provide wealth managers and their clients with broader access to private market strategies, delivering enhanced investment opportunities, and setting new standards in the field of finance and technology.
