Tokenisation Is a Strategic Priority for 84 Per Cent of Financial Firms
Updated: 4 days ago
Financial technology provider Broadridge published survey findings this month showing that tokenisation has become a strategic priority for 84 per cent of the financial services executives it polled, a number that turns a debate long dominated by pilots and position papers into something closer to a stated corporate mandate.
The figure comes from a Broadridge survey of 200 North American financial services executives, so it is not a UK data point, but it is a useful measure of direction of travel for anyone in Britain watching whether institutional tokenisation talk is converting into budget.
Sixty eight per cent of respondents said tokenisation will at least partially reshape financial markets within the next three to five years, and close to a third plan to increase their tokenisation investment by 26 to 50 per cent or more over the next two years. That is a meaningfully more committed posture than the cautious, wait and see language that characterised most institutional commentary on tokenisation even twelve months ago.
"Sixty eight per cent of respondents said tokenisation
will at least partially reshape financial markets
within the next three to five years"
The detail worth sitting with is not the headline number but the adoption gap sitting underneath it. Forty four per cent of capital markets firms told Broadridge they already have tokenisation initiatives in production or operating at scale, against 20 per cent of asset managers and just 9 per cent of wealth managers. Strategic priority and operational reality are clearly two different things, and the wealth management layer, the part of the industry closest to the private investors and family offices that eventually fund early stage UK companies, is the furthest behind. For founders and platforms hoping tokenised structures will widen the pool of investors they can reach, that gap is the one to watch closing.
The survey also found that 92 per cent of respondents expect digital and traditional assets to coexist for the foreseeable future, and 69 per cent plan to integrate tokenisation into their existing infrastructure rather than build separate blockchain native systems. That is a practical, unglamorous finding, but it matters for UK infrastructure providers and custodians pitching into institutional clients: the winning technology approach for the next few years is more likely to be integration into legacy rails than a clean rip and replace.
Regulatory uncertainty was the most commonly cited challenge, ahead of the operational complexity of integrating blockchain technology into existing systems. That finding lands alongside a busy fortnight of UK regulatory activity, from HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion report to the ongoing FCA and Bank of England call for input, and is a reminder that clarity from regulators is doing as much to unlock institutional capital as any single piece of technology.
Key takeaways
Broadridge's survey of 200 North American financial services executives found 84 per cent now treat tokenisation as a strategic priority, with 68 per cent expecting it to reshape markets within three to five years.
Nearly a third of respondents plan to raise tokenisation investment by 26 to 50 per cent or more over the next two years.
Adoption is uneven: 44 per cent of capital markets firms have tokenisation in production or at scale, against 20 per cent of asset managers and 9 per cent of wealth managers, the segment closest to early stage private capital.
92 per cent expect digital and traditional assets to coexist, and 69 per cent favour integrating tokenisation into existing infrastructure over building separate blockchain native systems.
Regulatory uncertainty remains the top cited barrier, ahead of operational integration complexity, reinforcing the value of the UK's current run of regulatory clarifications.
Sources:
Broadridge's wider 2026 study: from AI to tokenisation
Broadridge's 2026 Digital Transformation and Next-Gen Technology Study, a separate and larger survey of 950 participants across the financial services sector, found that the share of firms with operational AI systems had risen from 31 per cent a year earlier to 80 per cent.
The same study found that 54 per cent of firms were investing moderately to heavily in tokenisation and digital asset infrastructure, and 55 per cent of respondents saw blockchain as a key growth driver, up from 42 per cent the previous year.
Germán Soto Sanchez, Broadridge's chief product and strategy officer, linked the two trends: AI has shown that the industry can modernise quickly, and tokenisation is the next structural change built on that foundation. Settlement is one example given, with tokenisation and AI-driven automation offering a path from today's T+1 or T+2 cycles towards T+0.
Frequently asked questions
What did the Broadridge tokenisation survey find?
Broadridge's survey of 200 North American financial services executives found that 84 per cent treat tokenisation as a strategic priority. Sixty eight per cent said tokenisation will at least partially reshape financial markets within the next three to five years.
How many financial firms already have tokenisation in production?
According to Broadridge, 44 per cent of capital markets firms have tokenisation initiatives in production or operating at scale, compared with 20 per cent of asset managers and 9 per cent of wealth managers.
Do financial firms plan to replace existing systems with blockchain?
Mostly not. In the Broadridge survey, 69 per cent plan to integrate tokenisation into existing infrastructure rather than build separate blockchain native systems, and 92 per cent expect digital and traditional assets to coexist for the foreseeable future.
What is the biggest barrier to tokenisation adoption for financial firms?
Regulatory uncertainty was the most commonly cited challenge in the Broadridge survey, ahead of the operational complexity of integrating blockchain technology into existing systems.
How many financial firms are investing in tokenisation infrastructure?
Broadridge's 2026 Digital Transformation and Next-Gen Technology Study, which surveyed 950 participants, found that 54 per cent of firms were investing moderately to heavily in tokenisation and digital asset infrastructure.
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