A 117-Year-Old Asset Manager Goes “Fully Native,” Seeing Tokenization as OS upgrade | Theo Golden

On today's Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Theo Golden, Head of Digital Assets at Baillie Gifford, to talk about BAGEY — the firm's newly launched tokenized bond fund on Solana and Ethereum that yields around 7% and settles in USDC. Theo breaks down why he sees tokenization as an operating system upgrade rather than a reinvention of finance, how pension funds and private banks are already showing real interest in its new tokenized fund, and why he thinks AI democratizing insight and tokenization democratizing access are two themes that will collide into something nobody has fully figured out yet.DISCLAIMER: Although our guest this week works at Baillie Gifford, nothing in this podcast should be considered an offer of its investment advisory services or should otherwise be confused for investment, tax, legal or other financial advice.This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that Token Relations and the Talking Tokens podcast are doing, diving into founders' journeys and startups building on Solana. Check out the accompanying newsletter on www.token-relations.com TIMESTAMPS:00:00 His Journey to Digital Assets03:33 From Journalism to Investment Theses06:05 Learning from Successes and Failures10:15 The Role of Independence in Baillie Gifford’s Innovation15:19 Gradual Growth in Tokenization20:57 Tokenization as an Operating System Upgrade23:57 Convincing Clients of Tokenization's Value24:50 Operational Leverage and Risk Management27:12 The Origin of Baillie Gifford’s BAGEY Tokenized Fund32:18 Initial Response and Market Interest34:43 Choosing Solana and Ethereum for the Fund Launch38:33 Solana and The Future of Internet Capital Markets43:09 Trust and Adoption Among Institutional Investors46:07 The Role of Traditional Institutions in Tokenization47:59 AI and Tokenization: A Future IntersectionYou can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens Follow us on X Jacquelyn:   / jacqmelinek   Talking Tokens:   / _talkingtokens   Follow us on Instagram   / _talkingtokens  Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.