Baillie Gifford Breaks New Ground With UK’s First Regulated Tokenised Fund

Traditional finance meets blockchain as Baillie Gifford launches the UK's first FSA-approved tokenised fund—because nothing says 'innovation' like waiting for regulatory permission.

The 162-year-old asset manager just dragged institutional investing into the 21st century. Their new digital wrapper lets investors trade fund shares on-chain while maintaining full regulatory compliance—proving even dinosaurs can learn new tricks when pressed.

Tokenisation could unlock $16 trillion in illiquid assets according to Citi research. But let's see if City suits actually adopt this or just use it for PR while keeping their spreadsheets in 1995.

Graham Rodford, CEO, Co-founder of Archax, the UK regulated digital asset venue, said:

It’s been great working with @BaillieGifford on this project, a natively digital fund with books and records on chain. @TFGolden and the team have been approaching this with a view to the future from the start. https://t.co/UrBsFLfPLa

— Graham (@Grodfather) June 21, 2025

Theo Golden, investment manager at Baillie Gifford, said: 

We created the UK's first fully tokenised UCITS and on a public blockchain!

Awesome to see our tokenisation pilot @BaillieGifford out in the open. We launched the Strategic Bond Feeder Fund, structured as a UK UCITS, and the first fully tokenised regulated fund in the UK 1/

— Theo Golden, CFA (@TFGolden) June 20, 2025

Many thanks to the Investment Association, the brilliant @TheFCA, and our awesome friends @ArchaxEx for making this happen. 3/

— Theo Golden, CFA (@TFGolden) June 20, 2025

By tokenising the Strategic Bond Feeder Fund, we’re not just exploring new territory – we’re actively shaping the future of asset management.” A very cool part of the pilot included myself holding the fund's tokens in my self-custodied wallet. 5/

— Theo Golden, CFA (@TFGolden) June 20, 2025

7/ pic.twitter.com/BjhsIZvNgX

— Theo Golden, CFA (@TFGolden) June 20, 2025

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