In June 2026, investment manager Baillie Gifford launched the UK’s first publicly available, fully native tokenised investment fund. This milestone demonstrated how blockchain infrastructure can be integrated into a regulated investment product. For financial and professional services firms, the question is increasingly what successful implementation requires.
Understanding the practical implications is one of the objectives of the Cross Border Tokenisation Working Group, which brings together digital asset professionals from Jersey, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In our latest technical session, NatWest Trustee and Depositary Services shared their experience of acting as depositary for the Baillie Gifford Enhanced Yield Fund.
With many organisations still exploring the opportunities, assessing readiness and determining whether there is a genuine business case, this session provided insight into the operational, governance and regulatory considerations involved in bringing a tokenised fund to market.
Key takeaways
1. Organisations need institutional-grade security and the ability to deploy technology using high quality data
Tokenisation requires organisations to consider how their data, systems, controls and operating models work together. The challenge is often to understand where existing capabilities can support a tokenised proposition and where investment or change is required. High-uality and well governed data is fundamental to maintaining accountability for the activities taking place across the operating model.
At MasonBreese we often work with organisations who recognise the need to invest in building a robust data environment. These foundations matter because when ownership records and transactions are maintained on-chain, organisations can improve the timeliness and granularity of the underlying information.
Institutional-grade security is equally important, particularly for regulated investment products. Organisations need confidence that their technology infrastructure and controls can meet these requirements.
However, the benefits are not automatic. Organisations must determine what information is required, how it is verified and how responsibilities remain clear. For boards and leadership teams, the practical question is therefore whether the organisation has the collective data, skills and infrastructure to support the proposed model, not just whether the technology is available.
2. Regulation and governance are a core part of new operating model implementation
Appropriate legal structures, regulatory treatment and custody arrangements are essential as digital asset infrastructures develop. These must provide the necessary safeguards without undermining the efficiencies that tokenisation can deliver. While the technology can reduce duplicated activity, it does not remove regulated accountability.
The Baillie Gifford Enhanced Yield Fund illustrates this collaborative approach. Baillie Gifford developed the fund with BNY, which provides the tokenisation infrastructure, while NatWest Trustee and Depositary Services acted as depositary, and the Financial Conduct Authority provided regulatory advice and oversight. The launch demonstrated how established institutions can work together to develop a new operating model within a regulated fund structure. It also underlines the importance of engagement between firms and regulators in establishing an appropriate framework for innovation.
For organisations considering tokenisation, regulatory engagement should not be left until the end of the process. Organisations must understand the applicable requirements early, establish how the proposed product will be treated and ensure that the right governance is built into the model.
For Jersey, this is an opportunity to build on its established regulatory framework and support organisations in understanding how tokenisation can be implemented with the safeguards required in a regulated market.
Start with a clear use case and defined outcomes
A clear use case starts with identifying the problem an organisation is trying to solve, the outcomes clients should experience and the changes required to achieve them. The greatest value is likely to come from targeting areas of unnecessary friction first. Without this clarity, the potential benefits of tokenisation may not be fully realised.
As shown in the Baillie Gifford Fund example, tokenisation has the potential to reduce fragmentation across activities such as dealing, servicing, reconciliation and reporting. Shared digital records and clearly defined processes may help reduce duplication and improve the flow of information between participants.
Organisations that define success before committing to implementation are better placed to measure business outcomes, rather than simply the volume of activity taking place on-chain.
During early adoption, digital twins can help organisations model processes, test assumptions and explore potential risks before implementing changes in a live environment. These tools may be particularly useful where several organisations, systems or regulatory considerations need to interact.
All these takeaways have one thing in common: education and training.
Education and training must be a shared priority
This is a rapidly evolving area, and no single organisation can develop every capability in isolation. Boards need to understand the strategic implications and risks. Operational teams need to know which processes and controls may change. Institutions must identify where collaboration with other organisations and at what stage.
Developing the workforce’s knowledge and skills will be essential to supporting the organisational transformation required. Education must answer practical questions and cross-industry learning can accelerate this process by allowing firms to share experience, understand emerging practices and learn from implementation challenges. These discussions also help build a common understanding between organisations and jurisdictions, making it easier to identify opportunities for collaboration and address barriers to adoption.
Jersey already has work underway in this area. The Digital Assets Innovation Council is coordinating activity across government, industry, Digital Jersey, Jersey Finance and the Jersey Financial Services Commission, while Digital Jersey has established a central training hub for digital assets.
When MasonBreese established its Cross Border Tokenisation Working Group, one of its objectives was to grow the shared skills base across Jersey, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, developing the knowledge and practical capabilities needed to implement tokenisation within the professional services industry.
Technical sessions such as this are an important part of this because digital assets don’t deliver value in isolation. Their value comes from solving genuine operational problems, reducing unnecessary friction and enabling organisations to focus more of their expertise on building trust and delivering value for clients and investors.
Tokenisation is not about replacing the principles that create and protect investor value, but applying those principles through more connected, transparent and potentially efficient infrastructure. For Jersey, the opportunity is to draw on shared knowledge and experience across jurisdictions to strengthen existing capabilities and develop the skills and systems needed to make that possible in practice.
