Key Takeaways
- • Schroders, which oversaw $1.1 trillion in assets under management as of June, is tokenizing its Schroder International Selection Fund Emerging Market Bonds strategy with tokenization specialist Centrifuge, according to CoinDesk.
- • The launch marks Schroders' first deployment on the Solana blockchain, with investors holding tokenized shares in a feeder fund whose share values track the underlying fund's net asset value.
- • The move extends tokenization beyond cash-like products: tokenized U.S. Treasuries and money market funds account for $14 billion of the $39 billion tokenized real-world asset market, per RWA.xyz.
- • Centrifuge, which has more than $750 million in tokenized assets on its platform, supplies the issuance and management infrastructure.
- • Federated Hermes ($911 billion AUM) plans its first tokenized fund shares in early 2027, and New York Life's asset management arm ($800 billion-plus) has brought a high-yield corporate bond strategy to Centrifuge.
Summary
London-based Schroders, a global asset manager founded more than 200 years ago, said on Wednesday that it is working with Centrifuge to bring its emerging markets bond strategy onchain, marking its first deployment on the Solana blockchain. The strategy, which invests in government and corporate debt across emerging economies, is offered through the Schroder International Selection Fund Emerging Market Bonds (SISF). Legally a feeder fund with an onchain share class, SISF invests in Schroders' Emerging Market Bond Fund, and investors hold tokenized shares in the feeder rather than directly in the underlying fund. Schroders has managed emerging markets debt for more than 50 years and has over 40 investment professionals dedicated to the asset class.
The transaction highlights how tokenization is moving past the cash-like products that drove early growth in the sector. Tokenized U.S. Treasuries and money market funds gained traction as yield-bearing cash equivalents that could move across blockchain networks, but they still make up $14 billion of the $39 billion tokenized real-world asset market tracked by RWA.xyz. Emerging markets bonds carry a different risk profile, with returns tied to borrower creditworthiness, currency movements and economic conditions in developing countries. Anil Sood, chief strategy and growth officer at Centrifuge, said that "until now, onchain fixed income has largely been built around cash and short-duration government securities," adding that "emerging markets debt introduces a fundamentally different source of risk and return."
Schroders' move is not its first tokenization initiative. In August, the firm obtained regulatory approval in Ireland for the first tokenized share class of a U.S. dollar money market fund, dubbed Schroders Onchain Active Returns (SOAR). John Mensack, senior investment director of fixed income at Schroders, said in a statement that bringing emerging markets debt onchain helps make the asset class more accessible. Nick Ducoff, head of institutional growth at the Solana Foundation, said the launch signals a shift "toward a market where sophisticated, actively managed strategies can be issued, distributed and integrated on public blockchain infrastructure."
Schroders joins a growing group of managers putting strategies onto blockchain rails. According to the report, Federated Hermes, which oversees $911 billion in assets, unveiled plans in October to issue its first tokenized fund shares in early 2027. New York Life's asset management arm, which oversees over $800 billion, has entered the market through Centrifuge with a high-yield corporate bond strategy.
The transaction highlights how tokenization is moving past the cash-like products that drove early growth in the sector. Tokenized U.S. Treasuries and money market funds gained traction as yield-bearing cash equivalents that could move across blockchain networks, but they still make up $14 billion of the $39 billion tokenized real-world asset market tracked by RWA.xyz. Emerging markets bonds carry a different risk profile, with returns tied to borrower creditworthiness, currency movements and economic conditions in developing countries. Anil Sood, chief strategy and growth officer at Centrifuge, said that "until now, onchain fixed income has largely been built around cash and short-duration government securities," adding that "emerging markets debt introduces a fundamentally different source of risk and return."
Schroders' move is not its first tokenization initiative. In August, the firm obtained regulatory approval in Ireland for the first tokenized share class of a U.S. dollar money market fund, dubbed Schroders Onchain Active Returns (SOAR). John Mensack, senior investment director of fixed income at Schroders, said in a statement that bringing emerging markets debt onchain helps make the asset class more accessible. Nick Ducoff, head of institutional growth at the Solana Foundation, said the launch signals a shift "toward a market where sophisticated, actively managed strategies can be issued, distributed and integrated on public blockchain infrastructure."
Schroders joins a growing group of managers putting strategies onto blockchain rails. According to the report, Federated Hermes, which oversees $911 billion in assets, unveiled plans in October to issue its first tokenized fund shares in early 2027. New York Life's asset management arm, which oversees over $800 billion, has entered the market through Centrifuge with a high-yield corporate bond strategy.
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