Symbiotic Taps Former Société Générale Executive to Lead Institutional On-Chain Strategy

Symbiotic, a collateral market platform backed by Paradigm, Pantera Capital, and Coinbase Ventures, has appointed former Société Générale Asset Management executive Mahendran Nathan as its Global Head of On-chain Solutions, sources familiar with the matter told Investing.com. The strategic hire signals a concerted push by the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol to bridge the gap between traditional financial institutions and on-chain markets.

A Push for Institutional Capital

Nathan, who is based in Singapore, officially started in his new role in August. His appointment is a key part of Symbiotic's strategy to attract institutional capital from entities such as pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds.

His primary responsibilities will include designing investment products tailored for asset owners and allocators. He will also spearhead fundraising and institutional business development initiatives across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific regions, focusing on creating the necessary investment frameworks, governance, and reporting systems required by large-scale institutions.

Veteran TradFi Experience

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Nathan brings a deep background in traditional asset management to the DeFi space. During his seven-year tenure as Asia-Pacific CEO and Regional Head for Société Générale Asset Management, he was instrumental in growing the platform's assets under management from $300 million to $15 billion.

According to Symbiotic, he successfully secured investment mandates from sovereign wealth funds, central banks, pension funds, and insurance companies. Following his time at SocGen, Nathan served as CEO for ASEAN, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and India at Russell Investments and has been an active asset allocator since 2022.

Bridging DeFi and Institutions

The move underscores a growing trend of DeFi platforms recruiting seasoned executives from traditional finance to build credibility and infrastructure for institutional adoption. Misha Putiatin, co-founder of Symbiotic, stated that Nathan's extensive experience "will bring us closer to realizing our vision of an institutional-grade on-chain market."