Aviva Investors and crypto solutions fintech company Ripple have announced a partnership with the intention of tokenising traditional fund structures.

Ripple will support the investment manager with the initiative as part of its broader effort to bring traditional financial assets with real utility to the XRP Ledger.

The XRP Ledger is a decentralised open-source public blockchain aimed at enabling quick and efficient global financial transactions.

The partnership is Ripple’s first with an investment management business based in Europe.

It is also the first of its kind for Aviva Investors, as it seeks to incorporate tokenised solutions into its existing product offering.

Both organisations will work together over 2026 and beyond to bring tokenised funds to the XRP Ledger.

Aviva Investors said the XRP Ledger would allow it to reliably issue and manage its tokenised funds using blockchain transactions, while the lack of mining needed to settle transactions was expected to support energy efficiency.

It offered a range of features, including compliance capabilities designed to support financial institutions operating in regulated markets, with the network having processed more than four billion transactions since 2012.

“We’re really delighted to announce our collaboration with Ripple, and we look forward to working closely with the team to explore tokenising solutions,” said Aviva Investors chief distribution officer, Jill Barber.

“We believe there are many benefits that tokenisation can bring to investors, including improvements in terms of both time and cost efficiency.

“We are committed to adopting technological advancements that we believe can bring about positive change for our business, and we think tokenised funds can be hugely beneficial to our clients.”

Ripple vice president, trading and markets, Nigel Khakoo, added: “Tokenisation is now moving from experimentation to large-scale production.

“Institutions like Aviva Investors are now focused on how to deploy regulated financial assets at scale.

“The development of tokenised fund structures is one that we believe can bring huge technological efficiencies to the investment sector, and we expect this to take full effect over the next decade.

“With its built-in compliance tools, near-instant settlement, and native liquidity, the XRP Ledger provides the secure and scalable infrastructure required to support the next generation of institutional assets.”

---