Apollo, a prominent investment firm managing over $730 billion in assets, is launching a new tokenized private credit fund in collaboration with Securitize, a specialist in security tokens. Investors can access this fund through the Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund (ACRED) feeder fund. It marks Apollo's first public on-chain offering for accredited investors and represents Securitize's initial integration with the Solana blockchain and Ink, a layer-2 network developed by the Kraken crypto exchange. The tokenized fund will also be supported by Ethereum, Aptos, Avalanche, and Polygon. The Apollo Diversified Credit Fund, which oversees more than $1. 2 billion in assets, engages in corporate direct lending, asset-backed finance, and investing in performing, dislocated, and structured credit. According to the firm, the fund achieved an impressive return of 11. 7% in 2024, significantly surpassing the approximately 4. 5% return on U. S. Treasuries. Christine Moy, a partner at Apollo focusing on digital assets, data, and AI strategy, explained that this fund was selected due to its daily subscription capability and daily net asset value (NAV) structure, making it ideal for efficient blockchain-based markets. “For investors looking to build a diversified on-chain portfolio, this fund serves as a higher-yielding alternative to stablecoins, tokenized treasuries, and money market funds, ” Moy stated in an interview. “Additionally, it offers diversification compared to more volatile crypto-native yield products, rounding out the array of assets necessary for a well-balanced on-chain portfolio. ” There is a growing trend among traditional finance firms to tokenize so-called real-world assets (RWAs), with blockchain-based U. S.

Treasuries emerging as the largest and most liquid market. As of 2023, global private credit assets under management reached roughly $2. 1 trillion, a fourfold increase from a decade ago, according to Securitize. While private credit tokens are still relatively rare, they represent a promising new avenue for on-chain assets, according to Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo. “Private credit has seen significant growth lately, and we are among the pioneers in tokenization, having successfully launched a top-tier private credit fund token with Hamilton Lane, ” Domingo said in an interview, noting that higher-yielding private credit complements Treasuries, especially as interest rates are anticipated to decline. Securitize is the tokenization partner of BlackRock and acts as the digital transfer agent for the asset manager’s BUIDL money market fund token. For Apollo, Securitize leverages its partnership with Wormhole, a developer platform promoting interconnectivity among different blockchain networks, to provide a multichain approach from the outset. Apollo has engaged in various tests related to tokenized assets, including a proof of concept conducted last year with JPMorgan under Project Guardian, a collaborative initiative spearheaded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Moy, a seasoned Web3 strategist with prior experience on JPMorgan’s blockchain and notable projects like Intraday Repo, looks forward to exploring decentralized finance (DeFi) initiatives. “Tokenizing Apollo’s products is merely the starting point, ” Moy remarked. “We are eager to collaborate with leading teams within the digital asset ecosystem to create modern treasury management, automatically rebalancing investment portfolios at scale, smart contract-driven collateral management, and eventually, possible secondary liquidity for alternative assets. ”