Deutsche Bank
Jie Yi (Jaelynn) Lee
03 Sep 2025
Jie Yi (Jaelynn) Lee, digital product owner, Securities Services, at Deutsche Bank, shares her journey into the financial services industry, reflecting on the power of curiosity, the value of mentorship, and her vision for a future shaped by tokenisation, digital innovation, and purposeful impact
Image: Deutsche Bank
Can you give me an insight of your personal journey into the industry, why did you decide this was the career for you?
I was keen to pursue a career that sits at the intersection of capital markets and digital innovation, in a dynamic space where asset classes, technology, policy, and investor behaviour are all evolving rapidly and interdependently. As a curious investor, I was always intrigued by what really happens after I place a trade. What does it actually mean when it settles? When do I truly own the asset? That curiosity led me to intern in post-trade asset servicing at Deutsche Bank, where I was exposed not just to the full trade lifecycle, but also to the early conversations around blockchain and tokenisation. The exposure, coupled with the inspiration and guidance of my internship manager, sparked a deeper interest in me to continue exploring more on my own despite coming from a non-technical academic background. By the time I returned to Deutsche Bank as a graduate analyst, I knew I wanted to be part of this transformation.
What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
What excites me most is the opportunity to work across two ends of the spectrum — from delivering end-to-end digital client experiences through well-established solutions, to pushing the boundaries of what is possible through early-stage innovations like blockchain and tokenisation. This balance equips me with a holistic skillset that is grounded to real-world delivery yet open to future possibilities.
There is immense growth that comes from building in the early innings — navigating uncertainties, deeply understanding how the technology can deliver the same regulatory-compliant functional outcomes as traditional finance, and shaping ideas through industry-wide collaboration to converge towards a common approach. The moments when complex ideas suddenly become clear and when ideas can be translated into tangible results are genuinely exciting.
It is also energising when the industry begins shifting in the direction we had anticipated, like the rise of public-permissioned blockchains, Layer 1–Layer 2 architectures and multi-blockchain distribution. It validates our thought leadership and signals that we are at the forefront of building something meaningful. To be part of an inspiring and supportive team at Deutsche Bank, helping to lead what could be the next major capital markets transformation akin to the scale of dematerialisation, is what makes this work so rewarding.
Being fairly new to the industry, how do you find your experience compared to those who are more established? Are there pros and cons to each?
As someone still early in my career and have yet to become deeply entrenched into established ways of working, this helps me stay open to alternative approaches that can potentially be more efficient and cost-effective in the long run.
Nevertheless, post-trade asset servicing is genuinely an industry where expertise counts heavily. The strategic perspectives, depth and nuance that industry veterans have accumulated over the years is something I deeply respect. While my comparatively lack of experience can feel daunting at times, it is also incredibly motivating as I am deeply fortunate to be surrounded by experienced managers, mentors and colleagues who are generous in sharing that wisdom. There is rarely a day when I don’t pick up something new, and this continuous learning is something I greatly value and hope to be able to contribute to my team and future graduates.
Have you noticed any misconceptions about the financial servicing industry? Is there anything in the industry you would like to see evolve or change?
Asset servicing is often perceived as a purely operational and routine business, but in reality, we are critical data stewards, holding rich insights across settlement patterns, cash flows, and asset movements. There is huge potential to turn these data into actionable insights that can drive smarter funding, optimise liquidity, and surface potential settlement risks early, especially as traditional settlement cycles continue to compress, to T+1 in the US and optional T+0 in India.
With tokenisation, our role can evolve even further. Asset servicing no longer happens after the trade but becomes embedded from day one. We become engineers of a digital asset or fund’s ‘DNA’, encoding asset servicing functions like investor compliance checks, fund valuation, income distribution directly into smart contracts at the point of issuance. As tokenised fund distribution expands across multiple blockchains, the mechanisms and operating model for asset servicing are also evolving.
Asset servicers will require scalable solutions to manage subscriptions and redemptions across chains, while consolidating on-chain investor ownership records, fund expenses, custody and cash positions into a single, trusted view.
That is the shift I would love to continue being a part of, where we are no longer just post-trade processors, but orchestrators of tokenised capital flows across issuance, distribution and servicing, with programmable compliance and connectivity built in from the start.
What is the training process of a new employee? Do you think it was beneficial to your role and others who may now be in the same position you were?
Deutsche Bank’s graduate programme is designed with both depth and breadth in mind. We start in our assigned ‘home’ business team but rotate across complementary functions to hone knowledge and skills relevant to our roles early on, while helping us understand how different teams work together to deliver an integrated client experience.
Beyond technical learning, the rotations have also helped us and myself build strong internal network. Being able to bounce off ideas and learn from different perspectives early on gave me a clearer sense of how to collaborate across different functions within the organisation. That experience has been invaluable in shaping how I approach my role today.
In terms of your career, where do you see yourself in a decade?
I see myself finding purposes at the intersections of what I love and believe, what I am and want to be good at, what the industry and client needs and what can provide sustainable positive impacts.
Technology offers brings vast possibilities while the financial industry brings depth and complexity. Looking ahead ten years’ time, I see myself deeply embedded in the securities and financial markets where digital infrastructures, AI and processes are re-defined to deliver today’s outcomes in many different ways.
To get there, I strive towards building deep domain expertise that is grounded in real-world industry needs and enhanced by modern technologies. Whether it is training specialised AI agents with the required domain knowledge to navigate complex asset servicing workflows, or using generative AI to rapidly prototype solutions, I want to be the kind of product manager who can bridge subject matter depth with emerging technologies and turn ideas into impacts.
That said, the role matters less to me than purpose. Ensuring that I am contributing to something larger than myself, leading positive impacts and mentoring others while continuing to build deep expertise and reliability are the guiding lights that would shape my career journey.
What advice would you give to young graduates when entering the financial services field?
I would advise keeping an open mind because your interests and strengths can evolve as you immerse into the working world. Try not to overlook the value of operational roles as they offer some of the most direct, practical insights into the intricacies of our business that can greatly accelerate your learning curve as an early professional.
Stay curious, and the best way to learn is often hands-on. With generative AI, it is easier than ever to experiment and build even without a technical background. I have personally dabbled into Solidity programming to truly understand how tokenised funds and composable smart contracts work in practice.
While it took a fair amount of personal time, it has given me a far more tangible understanding of the technology with a depth that goes beyond reading and listening.
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