Securitize, a platform for tokenized financial products, and global asset manager Neuberger Berman launched the High Income Tokenized Fund (HINC), a high-yield bond fund, on August 18. A tokenized fund is a product that records an investor's fund shares as tokens on a blockchain and allows them to be transferred; it is not a structure in which the investor directly owns individual bonds. HINC invests in high-yield bonds, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), leveraged loans and similar assets. High-yield bonds are bonds issued by companies with lower credit ratings that pay higher interest, while CLOs are products that bundle multiple corporate loans and then divide them into several tranches according to the order in which they bear interest and losses. Leveraged loans refer to loans extended to companies that carry heavy debt or have low credit ratings. HINC's fund shares are supported on four blockchains: Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana and Sui. HINC's net assets, number of investors, trading volume by chain and redemption record were not disclosed in the official announcement or in press coverage.
Securitize and Neuberger Launch High-Yield Bond Fund on Four Blockchains
Metanomia View
What the blockchain changes is the way fund shares are recorded and transferred, while the legal rights an investor holds are still determined through the fund contract. Because the investor is not the direct owner of individual bonds, asset valuation, the handling of default losses and whether redemption is possible all depend on the manager and administrator and on the terms of the product. More important than the number of blockchains supported is confirming what rights attach to the shares and when transfer and redemption are restricted.