OFI Asset Management has carried out live blockchain transactions on the IZNES fund record-keeping platform built on blockchain tech from startup SETL.
According to a press release, OFI AM conducted trials with clients during which transactions were "successfully" made over the IZNES system – a European platform developed by the two firms.
Other asset managers including Groupama AM, Arkéa Investment Services have also been involved in the project, the release adds.
SETL Development Ltd CEO Peter Randall said that the trials are an "important step" in bringing blockchain technology to the asset management sector, with benefits including lower costs and increased transparency and workflow.
Randall added:
The IZNES solution lets investors redeem fund units through the asset management firm itself, and doing away with the middleman – in this case the transfer agent. The platform aims to support the issue, transfer and redemption of new units that are specifically designed for blockchain use, the release adds.
Pierre Davoust, CEO of SETL France, noted that the flexibility of the IZNES platform will enable it to be used with "minimal impact" on other business processes. "This enables investors, distributors and asset managers to operate their usual internal tools to process their orders on the SETL blockchain," he said.
SETL was founded in July 2015 to develop a blockchain-based institutional payment and settlements infrastructure that covers multiple assets and currencies.
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