A majority of senior executives in fund management industry have an average to poor understanding of blockchain technology, according to a survey by Global Blockchain Business Council and Janus Henderson Investors published Wednesday.
Of the 76% of professionals from 50 buy-side organizations responding to the survey that described their executives' knowledge as average, poor or very poor, 29% said executives' level of knowledge was average, 35% said the level was poor and 12% said it was very poor.
However, fewer than 10% of firms are focused on recruiting blockchain experts, even though 70% of firms believe blockchain — a digital list of records or ledger — will have a significant impact on their business over the next five years, the survey found.
Still, the research found that 49% of industry respondents believe blockchain technology could be a key factor in differentiating fund managers who will be leading asset management firms in the future.
In addition, 64% of respondents said that a majority of asset managers will be using blockchain technology for one or more parts of their business within the next 10 years.
The significant benefits of blockchain named in the survey were improved clearing and settlement capabilities, mentioned by 76% of respondents, and increased operational efficiency and lowering costs as margins shrink, named by 73% of respondents.
