Multi-manager digital assets · Luxembourg · Since 2017
In this asset class, what failed was almost never the strategy.
Custody, counterparty concentration, commingled assets and valuation are what have destroyed capital in digital assets. Block Asset Management assesses those first — and a manager that does not pass is never assessed on returns at all.
Selection, in numbers
~1,500
Managers screened at least once since 2017
~300
Completed operational assessments since 2017
23
Managers held across the firm
Figures as at August 27, 2026. A manager is counted as screened where a filter or contact took place, and as assessed where a full operational assessment was completed. The screened and assessed figures are approximate and are stated as such; the held figure is exact. Our pipeline is not a representative sample of the manager universe.
The framework, in fullThe selection sequence
Five gates, and the operational one comes second
Operational assessment comes before investment assessment, and an approach that cannot pass it does not proceed to be judged on its merits.
Map
A continuous pipeline of managers, built through direct research and sector relationships rather than databases alone.
Disqualify
Custody, segregation of duties, counterparty and venue exposure, valuation policy, key-person dependency and control frameworks — examined before the strategy itself.
Most managers reviewed do not proceed, and the majority of those are declined on operational rather than investment grounds.
Underwrite
Only what passes is assessed on returns: where the edge comes from, why that source should persist, and whether the stated approach and the observed return pattern are recognisably the same thing.
Combine
Managers are assessed for what they add to the exposures already held. Several approaches that fail in the same conditions are one exposure wearing several names.
Supervise
Assessment does not end at allocation. Investment behaviour, operational developments and organisational change are monitored continuously, and deterioration in any of the three is treated as material.
Investment capabilities
Two specialist investment capabilities
Research-led capabilities addressing distinct sources of return. Product-specific materials are available to eligible investors through controlled access.
Multi-Manager Digital Assets
Manager research, due diligence and portfolio construction across complementary digital-asset investment approaches.
Systematic Liquid Alternatives
Quantitative research and rules-based implementation across liquid digital assets, FX and commodity markets.
Recognition
10 jury awards, each with its methodology
Independently assessed prizes, judged by a panel rather than compiled from a database. Rankings and listings are labelled separately and are not awards.
2025
The Digital Banker
Digital Assets Awards 2025 — Best Institutional Asset/Fund Manager for Digital Assets
View source2025
The Digital Banker
Digital Assets Awards 2025 — Digital Assets Leader of the Year, Europe
View source2025
The Hedge Fund Journal
Digital Currency Award 2025 — Fund of Funds, Digital Assets: Best Performing Fund over 6 Years
View source
Awards, rankings and recognition relate to specific past periods and to the entity or fund named in each entry. They are not an indicator of future results, not a guarantee of performance, and do not constitute a recommendation, endorsement or investment advice. Selection criteria, methodologies and the universe considered vary between issuers and editions, and some recognitions are based on periods of past performance. Capital is at risk. This page is intended for professional and qualified investors.
Governance
Governance designed for specialist investment strategies
Defined functional responsibilities across the firm, with oversight of investment, operational and regulatory obligations.
Senior Management
Accountable for firm strategy, resourcing and the overall control environment.
Investment & Research
Responsible for manager research, quantitative research, due diligence and portfolio construction.
Risk & Operations
Responsible for exposure monitoring, operational processes, service-provider oversight and reporting.
Compliance
Responsible for regulatory obligations, investor eligibility, marketing review and record keeping.
Who surrounds each structure
The independent parties appointed to each structure — and where a structure has none, that is shown rather than left out.
| Structure | Fund manager | Depositary | Independent director |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luxembourg structureBlock Asset Management is the alternative investment fund manager, registered with the CSSF. | Block Asset Management S.à r.l. | None | None appointed |
| Malta structureAn authorised alternative investment fund manager is appointed, with an independent non-executive director on the board and a licensed depositary. | AQA Capital Ltd | Swissquote Financial Services (Malta) Ltd | Appointed to the board |
| Certificate structureA certificate, not a fund. It has no board and no depositary, and the safeguards that attach to a fund structure do not apply to it. | None | None | None |
As at 20 August 2026. Service providers are named as appointed at the date shown, read from the offering documents rather than from memory. Naming a provider describes an appointment; it is not an endorsement of Block Asset Management, of any investment, or of any statement on this site by that provider. Appointments can change.
Research & insights
Research for digital-asset and alternative-investment allocators
Written for allocators, free of forecasts, and updated when the facts change.
Portfolio Construction
What the carry pays, and against what
The spread between spot and futures is the return source behind much of what digital assets call market neutral. For most of 2026 it has been paying less than a two-year US Treasury — and on a different measure, in the same month, it read comfortably above one. Both figures were reported accurately. This note is about why they differ, and what an allocator should require before accepting any carry number.
Manuel Ernesto De Luque Muntaner · · 14 min read
Portfolio Construction
What market neutral does in a drawdown
A market neutral strategy is built to remove the direction of the market from a return. It does not remove everything else, and the episodes in which these strategies have lost money badly were rarely caused by the market going down. This note sets out what neutrality actually removes, what it leaves behind, and what a drawdown is really testing.
Manuel Ernesto De Luque Muntaner · · 11 min read
Manager Selection
What ends a manager review, and what only looks like it should
A due diligence process that never says no is not a process. This note sets out what genuinely ends a manager review, why most of it is about response rather than fact, and the characteristics that look disqualifying to an inexperienced reviewer and are not.
Manuel Ernesto De Luque Muntaner · · 10 min read
Leadership
Who decides, and what they decide
The three responsible for the firm, its capital allocation decisions and its control environment.
Manuel Ernesto De Luque Muntaner
Founder & CEO
Leads the firm and co-leads manager research and due diligence. He sits on the investment committees that approve allocations and the deployment of systematic strategies.
Kevin Ballard
Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer
Responsible for the firm's commercial strategy and its distribution relationships.
Juan Carlos Serrano
Partner & CFO / COO
Oversees finance, administration and operations, and co-leads manager research and due diligence. He sits on the investment committees, and operational due diligence on a manager runs through his function before an allocation is approved.
Start with the diligence, not the deck
Three ways in, and they ask different things of you. The first asks nothing at all.
- Read how we assess a managerThe operational due diligence framework in full — eleven areas, the questions asked in each, and what ends a review. No form, no email address.Download the framework
- Ask us something specificProfessional and institutional investors can put a question directly to the team — about the process, a structure, or how an allocation would be assessed.Contact Investor Relations
- See the product materialsFund-specific documentation, terms and reporting are available to eligible investors through controlled access, once eligibility is confirmed.Eligible Investor Access