MAMA is a thriving and growing community. Members enjoy a wide range of benefits as well as the opportunity to influence the development of on-chain asset management.
Decentralised technologies - blockchains, smart contracts and digital assets - have the potential to transform asset management. They promise to change in profound ways how funds are set up, operated and regulated.
We envision a world where the power of blockchain technology is unleashed, providing amongst other things, new foundations for the asset management industry. We believe that investment funds of the future will be entirely set up, operated, audited and regulated using blockchain technology.
These ‘decentralised funds’ will deliver greater efficiency, transparency, security and dramatically lower costs for investors and investment managers. In the future, all financial assets and investment products – such as equities, gold, real estate and diamonds – will be tokenised and when that happens, blockchain-based asset management will provide the best investment vehicles for both crypto and traditional, real-world assets.
Currently, the fund industry is beset by challenges; the complicated web of financial intermediaries which exist to protect investors from fraud, malfeasance, or even honest mistakes, has actually introduced a lack of transparency, inefficiencies, risks and consequently, higher costs. Decentralised technologies provide a range of benefits:
All transactions are recorded (transparently and immutably) on the blockchain, enabling real-time accounting, auditing and investor reporting.
All assets can remain in the custody of investors themselves or in smart contracts which can be redeemed at any time, eliminating the need for custodians.
Since transactions take place directly between two parties, and are near instantaneous, there is no need for transfer agents, or clearing and settlement services.
All data about fund performance is on-chain and therefore transparent and accessible, enabling investors and managers alike to compare fund allocation and performance.
Fund managers define the key rules and parameters of a fund which are in turn deployed to the blockchain and enforced by smart contracts, eradicating the need for fund administrators.
Many of these benefits directly address regulators’ concerns about fraud, money laundering and even tax compliance. In addition, by significantly reducing the costs of setting up and operating a fund, decentralised technologies also lower the barriers for new entrants, thereby enabling greater competition and ultimately more choice for the end-investor. In short, decentralised technologies enable fund managers and investors to operate in a way which is secure, transparent, efficient and dramatically less costly.
Developments in legal and regulatory frameworks have not, however, kept pace with these innovations. Currently, any investor setting up a collective investment fund using decentralised technologies cannot do so while being fully regulated and compliant. We will work with and on behalf of our membership to raise awareness of the benefits of blockchain technology and make the case for change to regulatory and legal frameworks by showcasing the best of blockchain through action-research, pilots and experiments. In this way we hope to realise our vision for on-chain asset management.
Executive Board
MONA EL Isa
President
Co-founder and CEO of Avantgarde Finance Ltd. Mona was formerly the co-founder and CEO of Melonport AG which developed Melon, the on-chain asset management protocol. Mona is a former star-trader at Goldman Sachs, promoted to Vice President by the age of 26 and made the “top 30 under 30” list in Trader Magazine in 2008 and Forbes Magazine in 2011 after profitably trading the 2008 and 2011 crashes.
Hansjoerg Hettich
executive director
Hansjoerg has 12 years’ experience in the alternative investment space. He worked for Man Investments in London and Switzerland and as a hedge fund structurer at LGT Capital Partners. He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and is passionate about the potential of blockchain technology.
Andreas Glarner
Vice president
Andreas is a partner at the innovative law firm MME in Zurich, Switzerland. He works with international companies in the technology, industrial and internet sectors. He specialises in the fields of intellectual property, unfair competition, advertising law, licensing and distribution, as well as information technology and data protection.
IOANA SURPATEANU
Ioana is a Web3 and DeFi investor and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Strategy W, a crypto and emerging tech consultancy designed to accelerate specific verticals within the Metaverse and the DeFi 2.0 ecosystems. She is Chief Innovation Officer for Swash, a Web3 data monetisation platform and holds advisory board positions for a variety of Metaverse and DeFi projects.
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Working Committee
Alisher Tashpulatov
APAC Ambassador
Alisher is Head of Crypto Finance Asia. Prior to joining the Crypto Finance Group, Alisher held various positions in Private Banking and Custody at BBH in the US and Luxembourg. Alisher obtained a degree in Business Administration and Finance from Northeastern University in Boston.
Advisory Board
Mathias Maurer
Advisor
Mathias Maurer is currently the CEO and CRO of Crypto Fund AG within the Crypto Finance Group. In previous roles he worked at Credit Suisse, Swisscanto and RBR Capital Advisors AG. Mathias is specialised in the areas of business and process implementation and organisational structuring.
We work with and on behalf of our membership to realise the vision for on-chain asset management.
We carry out the following activities:
Work with regulators to raise awareness of the benefits of decentralised technologies and ensure a suitable regulatory regime for on-chain asset management.
Carry out projects and pilots to test how blockchain technologies can best be deployed to transform asset management.
Disseminate resources and insights about on-chain asset management, including the latest insights from regulators, policymakers and academics.
Organise events to grow and strengthen the MAMA community and to foster discussion between industry, academia, policymakers and regulators.
If you would like to find out more about what we do, or how to get involved and become a MAMA member, get in touch with us here.