Tokenization has become an important theme behind skills and experience on all our searches, often wrapped up in the demand for strong knowledge of the technology platforms used by forward-thinking asset & wealth management firms. This demand for skills at the executive level is happening in parallel to important practical advancements in the field, with a great example being the recent DTCC initiative in July that is leading to their launch of a backbone service in October of this year. Congratulations to Nadine Chakar and her team for their innovative and creative work and persistence in herding the cats in this field.
Tokenization is a topic of constant discussion in our current CEO leadership search for the next CEO of the Money Management Institute. It will rapidly change the landscape of wealth solutions delivery, and our successful candidate will be an important thought leader for the asset and wealth management industry on these topics.
Don’t hesitate to touch base with us if your team has these issues on a whiteboard, as we can share interesting insights on competitive developments in the industry and how companies are adjusting their staffing and organizational management structures to adapt.
From DTCC PRESS RELEASE:
“New York/London/Hong Kong/Singapore/Sydney, July 15, 2026 ‒ The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced that it successfully converted assets held at The Depository Trust Company (DTC) into tokens that were then used in real production trades, a notable milestone that marks the largest tokenization production initiative in breadth of use cases, asset classes and number of participants.
The tokenized trades were processed on July 15 and marked a significant milestone that sets the stage for the DTCC Tokenization Service to launch in October 2026. More than 30 firms representing a cross-section of traditional financial institutions (TradFi) and digital market participants took part in the initiative, underscoring broad industry engagement, the capabilities of the DTCC Tokenization Service, DTCC’s critical role as a financial market infrastructure and the importance of interoperability. The digital conversions occurred on LFDT’s Besu (DTCC’s private network) and Canton (a public network). This is part of DTCC’s multi-chain strategy to ensure resiliency, scalability and choice.”