Crypto went from obscurity to mainstream, encompassing traditional ones such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, to an expanded regulatory ecosystem of stablecoins, such as Tether and digital currencies, in which regulators globally are putting in place a regulatory structure—albeit not as fast, coherently, and innovation-friendly as some market participants would like. The much-entrenched crypto skepticism has yielded to crypto acceptance, whether from FOMO, greed, or YOLO; the reality is that cryptos—in one form (hopefully comprehensively regulated) or another—appear to be a growing asset class in the financial-investing ecosystem. That is the easy part; now begins the journey of navigating the thicket of regulations and regulatory actions that will surely follow from a variety of regulators.

Fundamental changes to working patterns, work models and employee engagement brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic are not going away. They’ve been embraced by many within the financial services industry, and for good reason. Employees benefit from greater flexibility, improved satisfaction and higher morale. Employers benefit from greater employee retention, increased loyalty and access to a wider talent pool.

Momentum behind ESG investing continues to grow. Firms who develop a solid approach to incorporating ESG policies at both the firm and the fund level will have a competitive advantage over their peers.

Tokenization of funds can help fund managers act efficiently while reducing operational costs, as well as helping to drive digital adoption by simplifying interactions between fund managers and investors. But there’s more to the tokenization story. While there are many rewards to tokenized funds, the inconsistent regulations governing them present a challenge.