Abrdn Joins Hedera Governing Council to Further its Digital Asset Strategy

United Kingdom-based global investment company Abrdn announced that it has joined the Governing Council of enterprise-grade public network Hedera as it doubles down on digital assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Hedera confirmed the news with a series of tweets saying that deal is to transform existing structural inefficiencies in the fund management industry using DLT.

Invariably, abrdn with over $567 billion in assets under management (AUM) will be joining leading global firms, banks, law firms, fintech and communication companies like Google, FIS, Standard Bank, and Nomura on the Hedera Governing Council. However, it would be the first buy-side finance and asset management company on the Council.

“Becoming the first asset manager to be accepted on to the Hedera Governing Council further strengthens abrdn’s position as a leader in the development of the digital asset ecosystem,” abrdn Senior Investment Manager Duncan Moir said.

According to Abrdn, “We believe that the technology being developed in this sphere has the potential to revolutionize the investment landscape. Ultimately, this could see the majority of ‘traditional’ investments brought onto blockchains, as part of a wider digitization of the investment process that includes digital exchanges and the tokenization of assets.”

Hedera and Abrdn Partnership Commitment

Similarly, Hedera cited Abrdn’s strong governance, operational efficiencies as well as environmental sustainability in its current endeavor to examine the tokenization of investment funds. It calls them ‘key factors’ in the Hedera decision-making process and its attempt to propel modernization in fund management.  

Hedera is optimistic about the level of insight abrdn will bring on board as well as its ability to work together and explore collaborative opportunities with the pre-existing member of the council. Bill Miller, co-chair of the Membership Committee for the Hedera Governing Council believes that there are certain points of common interest between Hedera and abrdn. 

“The client-first mission at abrdn aligns with Hedera’s goal of bridging the resources of enterprises with the innovative capabilities of Web3, enabling users to benefit from a DLT infrastructure that maximizes efficiency,” Miller pointed out.

In the same fashion, Moir ascertained the similarity of values between both entities. “We chose to join a number of leading global organizations on the Hedera Governing Council because Hedera’s emphasis on strong governance, innovation, and sustainability aligns closely with our values,” he mentioned.

In other news, Hedera collaborated with TV giant LG Electronics to launch its Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace last month. The NFT marketplace was dubbed LG Art Lab.