Apex Group leveraging on tokenization to ramp up Islamic asset management

While tokenization is typically viewed as simply democratizing access to high-value assets for retail investors, Apex Group sees it instead as an innovative way of solving structural inefficiencies in fund distribution, capital formation and investor servicing – especially in underserved markets.

“Institutional tokenization represents a natural evolution of asset servicing. It enables greater efficiency, enhanced compliance through on-chain identity, real-time settlement and fractional ownership,” Apex Group Digital Assets Global Head Daniel Coheur told IFN Investor.

Gaining such a strategic edge in markets like the Middle East – where digital assets and Islamic finance are both national priorities – is among the key factors why the US$3.4 trillion fund administrator Apex Group forged an alliance with ZIGChain to introduce what is described as the first regulated, blockchain-based ecosystem for fund tokenization.

Combining strengths of other founding members Dubai-based VC Truleum Venture Partners and Shariah compliant tokenization platform Zamanat, the consortium aims to transform how real world assets are managed and distributed using blockchain principles.

Together with digital asset tokenization technology provider Tokeny, majority-owned by Apex Group, the new infrastructure is being developed as a modular system that complies with Shariah principles, offering an accessible and secure framework for launching tokenized funds.

By enabling full tokenization of fund structures rather than just underlying assets, the alliance intends to make blockchain adoption more practical and scalable for large financial institutions.

“For traditional managers, we provide a bridge to tokenization without disrupting their workflows.” Embedding compliance into the asset layer and automating investor verification offers faster time-to-market and lower lifecycle costs for fund managers.

ZIGChain Chief Strategy Officer Ahmed A Shafi explained that Shariah compliance is an intrinsic aspect treated as a continuous mandate, not a one-time certification, as all offerings launched with the alliance will undergo periodic reviews from issuance to redemption.

The initial focus on Shariah compliant real world assets include VC and PE activities in Halal-aligned sectors such as AI, healthcare and education; revenue-generating real estate with compliant lease structures; plus private credit and structured finance opportunities.

With this offering, Daniel said Apex Group aims to grow alternative Shariah financing models across the GCC region and beyond into Africa, Southeast Asia and other major Islamic financial hubs.

“We’ve seen strong interest from both blockchain-native issuers and traditional asset managers looking to digitize parts of their fund structures. The Islamic finance and assets sector represents a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity with significant appetite for compliant digital innovation.”