A press release titled, "Federated Hermes enters strategic alliance with Conduit Digital Holdings on tokenized money market fund in Asia Pacific," tells us, "Federated Hermes, Inc. (FHI) ... announced a strategic alliance with Singapore-based Conduit Digital Holdings Pte Ltd, part of the Conduit Group, to support the launch of a regulated tokenized distribution structure in APAC. Under this arrangement, the Conduit-managed investment fund will invest in the Federated Hermes Short-Term U.S. Prime Fund. Shares of the Conduit fund, which provide exposure to the underlying Federated Hermes fund, will then be tokenized and offered to institutional and wholesale investors, in APAC." (Note: We're still taking registrations for our European Money Fund Symposium, which is in just 3 weeks -- Sept. 24-25, 2026 in Paris, France! We hope to see you there!)
It says, "For over 50 years, Federated Hermes has been a leader in money market innovation with US$676.9 billion1 in money market assets under management. The Federated Hermes Short-Term U.S. Prime Fund is an actively managed, UCITS-authorized money market fund that aims to provide current income while maintaining daily liquidity and a stable principal value. It invests primarily in high-quality, U.S. dollar-denominated short-term debt instruments like commercial paper and certificates of deposit."
The release explains, "Federated Hermes' strategic alliance with Conduit builds on a series of recent money market initiatives including: an alliance with UK-based Archax, an FCA-regulated digital securities exchange, to provide tokenized access to three UCITS money market funds; participation in an industry-wide, regulated initiative using mirrored tokenization to enhance transferability, collateral utility and real-time tracking of fund shares; and the launch of Federated Hermes' first GENIUS Act-aligned money market fund in the US, designed to support stablecoin reserve use cases, with potential for future tokenization/tokenized share classes."
It continues, "This announcement represents Federated Hermes' first digital assets initiative in APAC, demonstrating a continued commitment to the growing digital asset ecosystem in the market by enhancing visibility and supporting customer needs through its role as the underlying asset manager to this tokenized offering. Earlier this year, Federated Hermes announced plans to expand its Asia-Pacific footprint -- which includes existing offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney -- with the opening of a Hong Kong office as part of a long-term growth strategy to deepen relationships with private banks, family offices, wealth intermediaries and institutional investors across the region."
Kevin Barr, the new Director of Digital Assets at Federated, comments, "We are excited to support innovative cash management solutions that better serve client needs, building on our legacy of innovation in the money market fund space. Vaults represent a compelling evolution in investment management, and we see a significant opportunity to bring our legacy of trust and fiduciary responsibility to this emerging space. We continue to explore on-chain distribution opportunities to enhance flexibility and accessibility, while preserving access to the stability and yield characteristics typically associated with money market funds. Today's announcement reflects our continued commitment to building a larger digital asset presence, leveraging one of our core strengths in liquidity management."
Federated Hermes' Head of Business Development, Asia Pacific and Australia, Jim Roland, states, "Tokenized products represent a new and evolving way to engage with our clients, combining our investment expertise with Conduit's MAS-regulated end-to-end tokenization capabilities and regional distribution network. Our customers in the APAC market are leading worldwide adoption of tokenization, making this strategically important region a highly receptive market the natural choice for the launch our latest digital assets initiative."
Conduit Digital Holdings' Richard Schroder, says, "We are delighted to work with Federated Hermes to have their U.S. Prime Fund as the anchor product of the CDH tokenized multicurrency money market offering. We are committed to unlocking the full utility of these tokens -- moving beyond simple settlement to enable use as collateral, multicurrency management, and integration into AI agentic treasury management systems. This is where the real efficiency gains for our customers lie, and we are building the infrastructure to make that a reality."
Chris O'Meara, CEO of Conduit Asset Management and Chairman of the Conduit Group, adds: "This collaboration with Federated Hermes marks a defining moment for the Conduit Group. Conduit Digital Holdings sits at the heart of our vision for the future of asset management in Asia-Pacific -- bringing institutional-grade products onchain through regulated, MAS-licensed infrastructure. As investment manager to the fund, Conduit Asset Management is proud to combine our fiduciary oversight with the strength of an active manager with over 50 years of money market leadership. The Group is fully committed to Conduit Digital Holding's growth, and this launch is only the first step in building the institutional access layer for tokenized real-world assets across the region."
For more on Tokenized Money Market Funds, see these recent Crane Data News stories: "Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings; Hashkey Adds Franklin OnChain" (8/26/26), "August MFI: Tokenized MMFs; Q2'26 Earnings Calls; Federated's Donahue" (8/7/26), "Stablecoin Reserves Recap by ignites; BlackRock Tokenizes Offshore MFs" (8/5/26), "BlackRock Launches BRSRV Tokenized Money Fund; Aviva Tokenized USD" (8/4/26), "Federated's Donahue, Cunningham on MMF Market Share, Digital, Rates" (8/3/26), "State Street Q2'26 Earnings Call on Tokenized MMFs, Stablecoin Reserves" (7/20/26), "MMF Assets Plunge to $7.9 Trillion; ICI on Tokenization and Asset Mgmt" (7/17/26), "BlackRock Talks Tokenization on Call" (7/16/26), "S&P Rates Franklin Onchain U.S. Government Money Fund (BENJI) AAAm” (6/25/26), "Fitch Primer on Fund Tokenization" (6/11/26), "Moody's Rates BlackRock BUIDL and Fidelity USD Digital Liquidity AAA" (5/20/26), "JPMAM Launches 2nd Tokenized MMF" (5/14/26), "BlackRock Files for Tokenized MMFs" (5/11/26), "Northern Talks Tokenization, Deposits" (4/22/26), "Earnings: JP Morgan Talks AI Cash Allocation Tool; BNY on Tokenization" (4/20/26), "Invesco to Manage SuperState Tokenized USTB" (3/25/26), "OMFIF on Tokenised Money Funds" (3/18/26), "Federated's Donahue Talks Tokenized Money Funds" (3/17/26), "Northern Trust A.M. Launches Tokenized Treasury Digital Enabled Shares" (3/3/26), "BNP Paribas Debuts Tokenized MMF" (2/23/26), "Western Adds Tokenized MMF Class" (1/14/26), "Boston Fed Paper Examines Vulnerabilities of MM ETFs, Tokenized MMFs" (1/7/26), "More from Irish Funds' Tokenization Paper; Decrypt Explains Stablecoins" (12/29/25), "JPMAM Liquidity Insight: Tokenization Transforming Money Market Funds" (12/24/25), "Amundi Tokenises Shares of EUR MMF" (12/22/25), "JP Morgan Launches Tokenized MMF, My OnChain Net Yield Fund (MONY)" (12/17/25), "Bank for International Settlements Primer on Tokenized Money Funds" (12/2/25), "TD Securities Writes on Stablecoins, Tokenized Money Funds, Digital" (11/5/25), "NY Fed Blog Says Money Funds Dominate Tokenization To Date; Stability?" (9/25/25), "IMMFA on Tokenization of MMFs in Europe; Tether USDT; Fidelity Digital" (9/22/25), and "BNY's LiquidityDirect Portal Announces Plans to Tokenize Money Funds" (7/24/25).
