British insurance giant Aviva invested 50 million pounds in a new tokenized fund share class launched on the XRP Ledger in partnership with Ripple.
According to an announcement reported by The Block, Aviva’s asset management arm, Aviva Investors, launched a new digitally represented share class for its Sterling Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger. Aviva’s 50 million pound investment in the share class is equivalent to approximately 67 million dollars.
The Sterling Liquidity Fund, to which the new product is linked, has total assets of 22 billion pounds, or approximately 29.4 billion dollars. This amount refers to the entire fund, while Aviva’s investment in the new digital share class is 50 million pounds.
Fund shares are represented on the XRP Ledger
The fund, which has been operating since 2002, invests in short-term, sterling-denominated debt instruments with high credit ratings and offers investors daily liquidity. Based in Ireland, it operates as a money market fund under UCITS.
Under the “digital twin” model, the fund shares owned by investors are represented on the XRP Ledger, while the fund continues to operate off-chain. Access to the new share class requires an eligible digital wallet.
Aviva says the tokenized shares have the same investment objective, risk profile, liquidity features, and regulatory protections as the traditional fund. BNY Mellon is responsible for safeguarding the fund’s assets, while Komainu and Licuido also supported the launch.
Investment in two digital fund share classes exceeds 86 million pounds
With this move, Aviva’s total investment in two tokenized money market fund share classes has surpassed 86 million pounds. The total also includes the U.S. dollar liquidity fund share class launched on the XRP Ledger on July 29 with approval from the Central Bank of Ireland.
The partnership between Aviva Investors and Ripple was announced in February. Aviva Investors CEO Mark Versey said tokenized funds could increase efficiency and deliver better outcomes for clients, adding that the company plans to explore new tokenization opportunities with Ripple.
Not investment advice.