New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM) is positioning tokenization as the technology that will revolutionize how investment portfolios are constructed at scale. Thomas Sy, head of multi-asset solutions at the $807 billion asset management arm, told CoinDesk that blockchain technology represents the only viable solution for achieving customized investment strategies at scale. Sy, whose team oversees approximately $11 billion within NYLIM, emphasized that "the future of asset management is going to be customization" and that blockchain is the technology that can help achieve this vision. The executive explained that traditional financial systems cannot currently craft tailored portfolios to individual investors at scale, but blockchain technology could enable this transformation by embedding customization within the assets themselves rather than relying on complex operational workarounds.
New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM), the $807 billion asset management arm of major life insurer New York Life, has officially launched its first tokenized investment product. According to reports from The Block, Lookonchain, Business Wire, and Crypto.news, the firm jointly launched the NYLIM Anemoy U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Segregated Portfolio (HYB) with blockchain-based tokenization platform Centrifuge on June 30. The fund represents NYLIM's entry into onchain investment products and marks a significant expansion of tokenization beyond traditional asset classes into higher-yield fixed-income strategies. As reported by The Block, Centrifuge CEO Bhaji Illuminati noted that NYLIM is among the first large insurance-affiliated asset managers to enter tokenization, with the two firms working closely over the past six months to identify where to begin. The product will trade under the ticker HYB and gives eligible investors onchain access to NYLIM's fixed-income investment process through digital infrastructure.
The tokenized fund operates with USDC stablecoin settlement for subscriptions and redemptions, as reported by The Block. Eligible investors can participate using Circle's USDC stablecoin, while New York Life continues to manage the underlying portfolio and investment strategy. The fund is structured as a British Virgin Islands segregated portfolio and is not currently available to U.S. investors, targeting primarily on-chain investors including stablecoin issuers, decentralized finance users and decentralized autonomous organization treasury managers. According to The Block, HYB's liquidity solution will offer functionality close to instant redemptions through a partnership with Grove, which is built on the MakerDAO ecosystem. As reported by Crypto.news, the fund will use Centrifuge's institutional fund infrastructure, with subscriptions and redemptions settling in USDC. The underlying portfolio, investment process and risk management approach will remain with NYLIM and will not change because of the tokenized structure, ensuring continuity in the firm's established investment approach.
Sy identified stablecoins as the primary driver of institutional adoption of tokenized investment products, noting that "stablecoins were probably one of the biggest unlocks in the past two years" and that adopting stablecoins was the gateway to get financial institutions onchain. The stablecoin market has grown to over $300 billion, with increasing adoption for cross-border payments and treasury management by banks, payment firms and fintech companies. As these institutions seek yield-generating alternatives for their stablecoin balances, demand for institutional-grade tokenized assets is expected to broaden significantly over the next several years. Sy explained that as banks and payment firms adopt stablecoins for cross-border payments and treasury management, many will eventually look for institutional-grade tokenized assets where those balances can earn yield instead of remaining in cash, creating a natural progression from payment infrastructure to investment products.
The tokenized real-world asset market has grown to more than $300 billion excluding stablecoins, according to rwa.xyz data reported by CoinDesk and Lookonchain. Citi projects tokenized assets could reach $5.5 trillion by 2030, while Standard Chartered estimates the market could expand to $2 trillion by 2028 as blockchain-based finance gains wider adoption. For Centrifuge, the partnership with NYLIM could make the firm its largest partner, with the platform already working with major Wall Street firms including Apollo Global Management and Janus Henderson, and supporting products including a AAA-rated CLO portfolio with more than $700 million in assets. Sy noted that while NYLIM is currently studying decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, broader institutional participation will require more mature infrastructure, including tokenized collateral, central clearing and prime brokerage services. He indicated that while there is a use case for DeFi, "we need a little bit more time for it to institutionalize" before widespread adoption occurs.
