New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM), a $807 billion asset manager, has entered the tokenization market through a partnership with Centrifuge, launching the NYLIM Anemoy U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Segregated Portfolio under the ticker HYB. The move marks NYLIM's first tokenized offering and one of the first onchain strategies focused on high-yield corporate bonds, often called junk bonds, which carry higher credit risk but offer higher yields.
The tokenized fund will enable eligible investors to access NYLIM's institutional high-yield strategy via Centrifuge's platform, with subscriptions and redemptions settled in Circle's USDC stablecoin. The underlying portfolio, investment process, and risk management remain under NYLIM's control, while Centrifuge provides the tokenization technology. The fund was built as a BVI segregated portfolio, a structure Centrifuge has used for tokenized securities, giving investors direct recourse to the underlying and allowing redemptions in kind.
Centrifuge CEO Bhaji Illuminati noted NYLIM may be the firm's largest partner to date, highlighting a six-month collaboration to identify strategic opportunities. The product is not available to U.S. investors under its Reg S structure, targeting experienced onchain audiences such as stablecoin issuers seeking higher yields, DeFi users building diversified strategies, and DAO treasuries.
HYB includes a liquidity solution through Grove, part of the Sky (formerly MakerDAO) ecosystem, supporting near-instant redemptions. Centrifuge also mitigates stablecoin risk by converting received USDC into dollars to purchase offchain fund assets. The launch expands Centrifuge's roster of Wall Street partners, which already includes Apollo Global Management and Janus Henderson, and tests whether onchain investors are ready to embrace traditional credit risk beyond low-volatility Treasury products.
