Product in a Tokenised World: Why Hong Kong Needs a New Breed of Financial Product Manager
1 day ago by
Tokenisation Is Reshaping Product Strategy in Hong Kong
As Hong Kong accelerates toward a tokenised financial ecosystem — from virtual-asset ETFs to on-chain funds and tokenised bonds — one thing has become clear:
Traditional product teams aren’t built for this future.
Tokenised products require a different mindset, different technical fluency, and an entirely new blend of risk, compliance, and innovation capability.
Banks and brokers are now competing for a new breed of financial product manager — one who understands both institutional finance and blockchain-based product mechanics.
At Captar Partners, we’re seeing demand for these hybrid profiles rise sharply, but supply isn’t keeping pace. The product talent gap is now one of Hong Kong’s biggest execution risks.
1. What a “Tokenisation-Ready” Product Manager Looks Like
Tokenised products sit at the intersection of three worlds: blockchain technology, regulatory requirements, and financial product design.
A tokenisation-ready PM needs a unique set of skills:
Technical Understanding of Blockchain Architecture
Not coding — but fluency in:
Token standards (ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-3643)
Smart contract lifecycle
Custody models (hot/warm/cold, MPC, HSMs)
On-chain settlement and reconciliation
Product Structuring and Investment Knowledge
Experience with:
Funds, structured products, derivatives, or ETFs
Asset-backed products
Portfolio construction and product governance
Regulatory and Risk Fluency
Understanding of HKMA, SFC, VATP requirements, plus:
Token issuance controls
AML/KYC for on-chain activity
Market-abuse monitoring for digital assets
Cross-Functional Leadership
Acting as the glue between:
Engineering
Legal & compliance
Custody
Business strategy
Institutional sales
This hybrid skillset is rare — and becoming more valuable by the month.
2. Why Global Competition Is Intense
Hong Kong isn’t the only financial centre racing to tokenise capital markets.
Singapore, Dubai, Switzerland, Europe, and the USare all building tokenisation frameworks and competing for the same talent.
This means Hong Kong product leaders face global pull factors:
Faster hiring cycles in crypto-native firms
Equity/token upside in Web3 companies
Remote flexibility
Cross-border opportunities
Roles that provide hands-on exposure to on-chain products
The result:
Product managers with even moderate tokenisation experience are being approached weekly by multiple markets.
Traditional banks and brokers are often slow to respond — and lose talent before interviews even begin.
3. How Hong Kong Institutions Can Attract Hybrid Product Managers
The firms succeeding in the tokenised world are those adapting their hiring strategy early.
1. Create Clear Tokenisation Product Pathways
Candidates want to know:
What tokenised product lines you will launch
What technologies you’ll adopt
How much autonomy PMs will have
Clarity attracts, ambiguity repels.
2. Compress Hiring Timelines
Tokenisation PMs move quickly. The process must match the pace of crypto-native competitors.
3. Offer Technical Exposure
The best PMs want to work closely with engineering and smart-contract teams. Not from a distance — but as part of the build.
4. Use Competitive Compensation Models
Tokenised product PMs expect:
Market-aligned base salaries
Performance bonuses linked to product launch and adoption
Innovation-linked incentives (token/equity where permissible)
5. Hire for Potential, Not Perfection
Perfect hybrid talent is rare. Institutions that hire adaptable, high-learning-velocity candidates and train them internally win long-term.
4. How Captar Partners Helps Close the Gap
Captar Partners works with banks, brokers, and fintechs across Hong Kong and Singapore to build tokenisation-ready product teams.
We support clients by:
Mapping global product talent
across Web3, fintech, and traditional finance
Identifying hybrid PM profiles
who can bridge regulatory discipline with digital-asset innovation
Advising on competitive compensation and role design
Reducing time-to-hire
through targeted candidate engagement
Building long-term product capability
through retention-focused hiring strategies
As digital-asset product frameworks evolve, the institutions that succeed will be those that secure the right leaders early.
Final Thoughts
Tokenisation is redefining how financial products are designed, built, and distributed. But the transition won’t be led by technology alone — it will be led by people.
Hong Kong’s next wave of financial innovation will come from the product managers who can navigate both TradFi and Web3.
👉Need help building your tokenisation product team? Contact Captar Partners atenquiries@captarpartners.com