New York Life Launches First Tokenized Bond Fund

New York Life Arm Taps Blockchain for High-Yield Bond Fund

New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM), a prominent active asset manager, is venturing into the blockchain space by tokenizing a portion of its fixed-income business. The firm has partnered with Centrifuge, a tokenization platform, to introduce a high-yield corporate bond strategy aimed at crypto-native investors.

The companies announced Tuesday the debut of the NYLIM Anemoy U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Segregated Portfolio, which will trade under the ticker HYB. This marks NYLIM’s inaugural tokenized product and represents one of the earliest efforts to bring a high-yield bond fund to public blockchain infrastructure, according to the announcement.

NYLIM oversees approximately $807 billion in assets. Under this new arrangement, the firm’s established high-yield strategy, encompassing its investment process and risk management protocols, will remain consistent. However, eligible investors will now have the option to participate through tokens issued on Centrifuge’s platform. Subscriptions and redemptions will be processed using the stablecoin USDC.

Thomas Sy, NYLIM’s head of multi-asset solutions, stated that tokenization addresses investor demand for “transparency, efficiency, and broader market participation.” He added that the firm views blockchain infrastructure as a complementary addition to its traditional platform, rather than a replacement.

Anil Sood, co-founder of Centrifuge, characterized the partnership as a component of a larger initiative to migrate institutional funds onto more “transparent” and “composable” digital frameworks, rather than an isolated product launch. Centrifuge currently provides tokenization infrastructure for other major asset managers, including Apollo Global Management and Janus Henderson.

The fund will not be available to U.S. persons or within the United States, the companies clarified. This restriction highlights the ongoing regulatory prudence guiding traditional asset managers as they explore tokenized products.

The move comes as Wall Street firms increasingly investigate tokenization—the process of representing traditional financial assets as digital tokens on a blockchain. This approach is seen as a means to modernize back-office operations and potentially broaden access to institutional-grade investment strategies for a new cohort of investors operating within decentralized finance markets.