The vocabulary, without the sales layer.

An alternative investment fund: any EU fund that is not a UCITS. Private equity, private credit, real estate and hedge strategies sit here, usually closed-ended and sold to professional investors.

The manager of an AIF, authorised under the AIFM Directive. Responsible for portfolio management and risk management, and for appointing the fund’s service providers.

Anti-money laundering: the obligation to know who an investor is, where their money comes from, and to monitor both for as long as they hold the fund.

Four Luxembourg acts, from 2019 to 2024, that progressively gave blockchain records legal standing for securities. Law IV created the control agent role and allowed a securities register to be maintained on a distributed ledger.

A digital notice board where existing investors post interest to buy or sell. Transfers are bilateral, so it is not a trading venue, which is what allows an illiquid fund to offer optional liquidity.

The fund’s accounting and reporting function: NAV calculation, financial statements, regulatory reporting. Distinct from the register, which is what tokenisation moves.

An asset pledged to secure an obligation. A tokenised fund unit can be pledged on-chain where the counterparty accepts an on-chain position, which is why treasurers ask about it first.

The role created by Luxembourg’s blockchain law IV. A CSSF-authorised firm appointed by the issuer to maintain the issuance account and the register of dematerialised securities recorded on a distributed ledger. Investre was the first firm authorised for it.

Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier: Luxembourg’s financial regulator. It authorises and supervises investment firms, funds, control agents and transfer agents.

Holding an asset on behalf of someone else. For a tokenised share this means controlling the private keys to the wallet the units sit in, under a regulated safekeeping mandate.

The daily deadline for an order to be included in that day’s dealing. Orders arriving after it are carried to the next dealing point.

Also DvP. Shares are only delivered if payment is made, and payment only completes if shares are delivered. On-chain this can happen in a single movement.

Securities that exist only as a book entry, with no paper certificate. Luxembourg law allows the book in question to be a distributed ledger, which is the legal basis for the control agent model. Compare registered shares, which sit with a transfer agent.

The entity that safekeeps the fund’s assets and oversees its cash flows and compliance. Appointing a control agent does not replace the depositary.

A fund whose shares are issued directly on a distributed ledger from the start, rather than a traditional fund with a tokenised representation layered on top.

A shared record maintained across multiple computers, where entries cannot be altered retroactively. Also DLT. The technology underneath a blockchain.

Getting the fund in front of investors: through banks and platforms under their own brand, a direct digital channel, or a secondary route.

Whether a given investor is permitted to hold a given share class, based on jurisdiction, investor type and the fund’s own rules. On a permissioned token, eligibility is enforced in the share itself.

A securities-oriented standard supporting partitions, forced transfers and document references. Used where a share class needs features a plain token cannot express.

The simplest token standard. Freely transferable, with no built-in restrictions, suitable only for a share class that carries none.

A permissioned standard: only wallets verified as eligible can hold or receive the token. The usual choice for a regulated fund share with transfer restrictions.

An exchange-traded fund. A tokenised class can be added alongside the listed one without touching the listing, the index or the participant arrangements.

Holdings expressed to a fraction of a unit rather than whole units. This lowers the minimum investment to whatever the prospectus permits, rather than whatever servicing costs allow.

The provider that keeps the fund’s books, strikes the NAV and produces its reports. Investre does not perform this role.

Certified hardware in which private keys are generated and used but from which they cannot be extracted. Also HSM. What “we hold the keys” means in practice.

The international identifier for a security. A tokenised share class carries its own ISIN, like any other class.

The account, maintained by the control agent, that records how many securities of a class exist. Reconciling it against the register is one of the control agent’s statutory duties.

Know your customer: verifying an investor’s identity, ownership structure and source of funds before they can hold the fund.

Low-volatility net asset value: a money market fund category under the EU MMF Regulation that may price at a constant value within tight limits. Tokenising a class does not change the category.

The EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. It governs crypto-assets and stablecoins, not fund shares. A tokenised fund share remains a financial instrument under MiFID, outside MiCA.

The EU directive governing investment firms and financial instruments. Investre is authorised under it, which is what allows it to receive and transmit orders, safekeep instruments and settle.

Creating new tokens on a ledger. In a fund context, issuing units of a share class against a confirmed subscription.

The EU rules governing money market funds, including what they may hold and how they may price. Also MMFR.

Multi-party computation: splitting a private key so that no single party or machine ever holds it whole. One of the ways institutional wallet custody is secured.

Bringing together multiple buyers and sellers so that trades are formed within a system. Doing this requires a venue licence, which is why a bulletin board is deliberately bilateral instead.

Net asset value: the per-share value of the fund at a valuation point. Tokenisation does not change how it is calculated or who calculates it.

An intermediary that holds shares in its own name on behalf of underlying investors. Useful, but it is why a traditional register shows aggregate holdings rather than actual holders.

One wallet holding many investors’ positions together, with allocation tracked in a ledger behind it. Suits distributors who hold on behalf of their own clients.

Whether something happens on the ledger or outside it. A fund can be issued on-chain while its cash still settles off-chain, which is how most first steps are structured.

Receiving subscription and redemption orders from distributors, validating them against the share class terms, and passing them through to issuance, custody and settlement.

Politically exposed person: an investor holding, or close to someone holding, a prominent public role. Their onboarding requires enhanced scrutiny.

A token that can only be held by wallets a compliance process has cleared. Transfer restrictions travel with the share rather than living in a policy document.

A service that publishes a price on-chain so that contracts and counterparties can act on it. Used to post intraday quotes for a share class.

Dealing directly with the fund: subscriptions in, redemptions out. As distinct from a secondary market, where investors deal with each other.

The MiFID II activity of taking an order from a client and passing it on for execution. Also RTO. It is the authorisation that permits order routing.

Checking that two records of the same thing agree. Most fund operating cost sits here, and one authoritative register is what removes the need for it.

An investor selling units back to the fund. The mirror of a subscription.

The legal record of who owns a fund’s shares. Under the control agent model this record is the ledger itself, holder by holder, rather than a book kept by an agent.

Shares whose ownership is recorded in the fund’s register of shareholders, kept by a transfer agent. On-chain, the transfer agent issues tokens that represent each position in that register. Investre holds a transfer agent licence for this model.

The regulated activity of holding financial instruments for a client. For tokenised units this means key custody, a parallel position record, and continuous reconciliation of the two.

Investors buying and selling from each other rather than from the fund. For tokenised classes this can mean a bulletin board, a designated market maker, or a regulated venue.

Completing a trade: the cash moves and the shares move. On-chain settlement can do both in one movement, so neither side waits for the other.

A distinct class of shares in the same fund, with its own terms, currency or fee structure. Tokenisation is almost always a class-level decision, not a fund-level one.

Code on a ledger that executes automatically when its conditions are met. Used to enforce transfer restrictions and to exchange cash and shares together.

A special purpose vehicle: a company or securitisation structure created to hold specific assets. Frequently the wrapper used to bring an asset to investors.

A token intended to hold a constant value against a currency. Used as the cash leg in on-chain settlement, where both legs can then move together.

A custodian appointed by another custodian, usually to reach a particular market. Part of the chain that a tokenised register shortens.

An investor buying units from the fund. Delivery of the units is conditional on the cash arriving.

A unit of record on a ledger. For a fund, a token is the share itself rather than a representation of one held elsewhere.

Recording ownership of an asset on a distributed ledger so that the ledger is the record, not a copy of it. For funds this means the register of a share class.

The provider that maintains a fund’s register of registered shares and processes its dealing. A digital transfer agent can keep that register on-chain and issue tokens representing each position. Investre holds a transfer agent licence.

A rule limiting who may receive a share and under what conditions. Enforced in the token, so an ineligible buyer cannot settle even if a seller agrees.

The EU’s regulated retail fund framework: liquid, diversified and passportable across member states. A UCITS can have a tokenised share class.

Variable net asset value: a money market fund category that prices at the value of its holdings rather than at a constant value.

The place a tokenised holding sits, controlled by a private key. Whoever controls the key controls the shares, which is why custody of tokenised securities is key custody.

A connection allowing an investor’s existing wallet to hold a share class that is safekept under a regulated mandate.

The set of wallets cleared to hold a given share class. Being on it is the operational consequence of passing AML and KYC.