Blockchain technology, also known as distributed ledgers, has a number of potential use cases within the wealth and asset management life cycle. Distributed ledgers are highly flexible; once implemented, they can be used to
remove friction from the client on-boarding process, streamline management of model portfolios, speed the clearing and settlement of trades, and ease compliance burdens associated with anti-money laundering (AML) and know your
customer.
The result is elimination of redundant functions, reduced operational expenses and increased opportunities to enhance the client experience. While blockchain technology is unlikely to replace current systems, it may be used to reconcile information across them or enable new infrastructure for new markets
and products.
By extension, these concepts can expand to broader applications, such as rollovers, trusts, estates, insurance and other transactions where assets are moved between parties or contracts are executed. A distributed ledger supports
the validation and execution of a transaction in near real time. The client experience is enhanced and the process streamlined, and costs are reduced.