A traditional wealth management portfolio typically consists of shares, bonds and funds. These are, by definition, financial assets and therefore “bankable”. Other things that make up personal wealth may be of value as well, but are often excluded or managed independently from more traditional assets in a wealth management portfolio. Think of direct investments in companies or private equity funds, the purchase or co-acquisition of primary or secondary residences, pieces of art and rare collectibles, and the like. These items do not appear on your bank's portfolio report and are, by definition, non-bankable assets. In saying that, they have a current value, an expected value development, and an inherent risk – just like any other asset. 

In today's article, we write about the fundamental problem of exchanging non-bankable assets and present a new method for trading them in the absence of any regulated (public) market. 

Blockchain is a disruptive force but also a transformative one. This is how it is transforming the wealth management industry.

The so-called smart contracts have been around for quite a while with the first global public implementation made available with Ethereum in 2015. This technology is a real breakthrough, and proved to be very disruptive over several use cases.

Digital assets are slowly but surely carving out a place for themselves in the modern portfolio. But just how indispensable are they?