Key Takeaways
- • Federated Hermes (NYSE: FHI) announced a strategic alliance with Singapore-based Conduit Digital Holdings Pte Ltd, part of the Conduit Group, to launch a regulated tokenized distribution structure in Asia Pacific.
- • The Conduit-managed fund will invest in the Federated Hermes Short-Term U.S. Prime Fund, and shares of the Conduit fund will be tokenized and offered to institutional and wholesale investors in APAC.
- • The deal is Federated Hermes' first digital assets initiative in APAC and follows its 2026 money market tokenization moves, including an Archax alliance and a GENIUS Act-aligned U.S. money market fund.
- • Federated Hermes manages $911.6 billion in AUM as of June 30, 2026, including $676.9 billion in money market AUM as of the same date.
- • Kevin Barr, Director, Digital Assets Product and Platform Strategy, leads the firm's digital assets effort, and the initiative is tied to the planned Hong Kong office expansion.
Summary
Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE: FHI) has entered 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 Asia Pacific, according to a PR Newswire release. Under the arrangement, a 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.
The underlying fund is an actively managed, UCITS-authorized money market fund that seeks current income while maintaining daily liquidity and a stable principal value. It invests primarily in high-quality, U.S. dollar-denominated short-term debt such as commercial paper and certificates of deposit. Federated Hermes reported $676.9 billion in money market AUM as of June 30, 2026, and $911.6 billion in total AUM as of the same date.
The alliance builds on several recent money market initiatives by the firm: 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; and the launch of its first GENIUS Act-aligned money market fund in the U.S., designed to support stablecoin reserve use cases. The release describes this APAC announcement as the firm's first digital assets initiative in the region.
Kevin Barr, Director, Digital Assets Product and Platform Strategy, said the firm sees a significant opportunity to bring its fiduciary legacy to emerging on-chain distribution and that it continues to explore such opportunities while preserving money market stability and yield characteristics. Jim Roland, Head of Business Development, Asia Pacific and Australia, cited the region's leadership in tokenization adoption. Richard Schroder, Co-Founder and CEO of Conduit Digital Holdings, said the Prime Fund will serve as the anchor product of the CDH tokenized multicurrency money market offering and that the company aims to enable use of tokens as collateral and within AI-driven treasury systems. Chris O'Meara, CEO of Conduit Asset Management and Chairman of the Conduit Group, called the collaboration a defining moment and said Conduit Asset Management is investment manager to the fund.
The announcement follows Federated Hermes' earlier plan to open a Hong Kong office, joining existing offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney, as part of a strategy to deepen relationships with private banks, family offices, wealth intermediaries and institutional investors across the region.
The underlying fund is an actively managed, UCITS-authorized money market fund that seeks current income while maintaining daily liquidity and a stable principal value. It invests primarily in high-quality, U.S. dollar-denominated short-term debt such as commercial paper and certificates of deposit. Federated Hermes reported $676.9 billion in money market AUM as of June 30, 2026, and $911.6 billion in total AUM as of the same date.
The alliance builds on several recent money market initiatives by the firm: 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; and the launch of its first GENIUS Act-aligned money market fund in the U.S., designed to support stablecoin reserve use cases. The release describes this APAC announcement as the firm's first digital assets initiative in the region.
Kevin Barr, Director, Digital Assets Product and Platform Strategy, said the firm sees a significant opportunity to bring its fiduciary legacy to emerging on-chain distribution and that it continues to explore such opportunities while preserving money market stability and yield characteristics. Jim Roland, Head of Business Development, Asia Pacific and Australia, cited the region's leadership in tokenization adoption. Richard Schroder, Co-Founder and CEO of Conduit Digital Holdings, said the Prime Fund will serve as the anchor product of the CDH tokenized multicurrency money market offering and that the company aims to enable use of tokens as collateral and within AI-driven treasury systems. Chris O'Meara, CEO of Conduit Asset Management and Chairman of the Conduit Group, called the collaboration a defining moment and said Conduit Asset Management is investment manager to the fund.
The announcement follows Federated Hermes' earlier plan to open a Hong Kong office, joining existing offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney, as part of a strategy to deepen relationships with private banks, family offices, wealth intermediaries and institutional investors across the region.
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