New York Life’s $807 Billion Asset Manager Launches First Tokenized Fund on Avalanche

New York Life Investment Management, which oversees approximately $807 billion in assets, has launched its first tokenized investment fund on the Avalanche blockchain, marking another major step in the growing adoption of blockchain technology by traditional asset managers.

The fund, known as HYB, is a tokenized version of NYLIM’s actively managed U.S. high-yield corporate bond strategy. The product was developed in partnership with blockchain infrastructure provider Centrifuge.

The launch gives eligible investors access to the investment strategy through blockchain-based infrastructure, while NYLIM continues to manage the underlying portfolio, investment process and risk management.

Unlike many tokenized real-world asset products that have focused heavily on U.S. Treasury securities and other short-duration government debt, HYB brings high-yield corporate credit onto blockchain infrastructure.

High-yield bonds, sometimes referred to as junk bonds, generally carry greater credit risk than investment-grade or government securities but can offer higher yields to compensate investors for that additional risk.

Centrifuge provides the technology used to tokenize the fund, while subscriptions and redemptions are settled in USDC, the dollar-backed stablecoin.

The underlying investment strategy itself remains unchanged. Investors are accessing the existing NYLIM strategy through a tokenized structure rather than through traditional fund administration rails.

The move represents NYLIM’s first step into tokenized investment products and reflects the growing interest among traditional financial institutions in using blockchain infrastructure to distribute and manage investment products.

Centrifuge said the partnership is intended to make NYLIM’s fixed-income capabilities accessible through digital infrastructure while potentially improving transparency, efficiency and the movement of capital.

NYLIM’s Head of Multi-Asset Solutions, Thomas Sy, described tokenization as an evolution in how investment solutions can be accessed, managed and distributed across public and private markets.

The launch also expands the types of real-world assets being brought on-chain. Instead of limiting tokenization to relatively conservative assets such as government debt, financial institutions are increasingly exploring corporate credit and other actively managed strategies.

For Avalanche, the launch adds another major institutional investment product to its growing tokenized-asset ecosystem. The development comes as financial firms increasingly experiment with blockchain networks as infrastructure for traditional securities, funds and other real-world assets.

NYLIM’s entry is particularly notable because of the firm’s scale. New York Life said its investment-management platform had approximately $807.7 billion in assets under management at the end of 2025.

The HYB launch therefore represents more than the tokenization of a single bond strategy. It signals that large traditional asset managers are increasingly exploring blockchain as another channel for distributing established financial products.

As tokenization develops, the shift could bring a wider range of traditional investments — from government bonds to corporate credit and private-market strategies — onto blockchain networks.