Key Takeaways
- • Northern Trust Asset Management launched a tokenized share class for its NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio, marking the firm's entry into the digital assets market, per a Business Wire release dated March 2, 2026.
- • The tokenized share class is a digital mirror record of the fund's institutional share class on blockchain technology and will initially be offered to clients on BNY's LiquidityDirect platform, which uses Goldman Sachs Digital Asset Platform (GS DAP).
- • Northern Trust Asset Management manages US$1.4 trillion in total AUM and US$355 billion in liquidity strategies as of December 31, 2025.
- • The Portfolio itself does not employ blockchain or invest in crypto assets; the authorized financial intermediary, not the Portfolio or its sponsors, is responsible for blockchain ownership records.
- • Paula Kar (Chief Product Officer) cited improved settlement efficiency and enhanced visibility as tokenization advantages, while Michael Hunstad, Ph.D. (President) stressed maintained governance, risk management and service standards.
Summary
Northern Trust Asset Management, which reported US$1.4 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2025, has launched a tokenized share class for its NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio, according to a Business Wire release from Chicago. The offering marks the firm's entry into the digital assets market and is described as a digital mirror record of the fund's institutional share class using blockchain technology.
The tokenized share class will initially be available to clients on BNY's (NYSE: BK) LiquidityDirect platform, which utilizes the Goldman Sachs Digital Asset Platform (GS DAP). The NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio provides exposure to a diversified pool of short-term U.S. Treasury instruments, and now adds a blockchain-enabled access model intended to support operational resilience and evolving digital market infrastructure.
Paula Kar, Chief Product Officer of Northern Trust Asset Management, said tokenization delivers meaningful advantages, including improved settlement efficiency and enhanced visibility, and that money market funds are at the leading edge of digital innovation. Michael Hunstad, Ph.D., President of Northern Trust Asset Management, said the firm is offering clients a modern, digital-first way to access money market investments while maintaining its standards of governance, risk management and service. The firm reported US$355 billion in liquidity strategies AUM as of the same date.
The release notes that the Portfolio does not currently employ blockchain technology or invest in crypto assets. Shares are expected to be purchased and held through intermediaries that will maintain blockchain-based mirror records of ownership, and those intermediaries, not the Portfolio, NTI, TNTC or their affiliates, bear responsibility for those records. The release also states that the Portfolio seeks to preserve a $1.00 per share value but cannot guarantee it, and that the investment is not FDIC insured and carries no bank guarantee.
The tokenized share class will initially be available to clients on BNY's (NYSE: BK) LiquidityDirect platform, which utilizes the Goldman Sachs Digital Asset Platform (GS DAP). The NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio provides exposure to a diversified pool of short-term U.S. Treasury instruments, and now adds a blockchain-enabled access model intended to support operational resilience and evolving digital market infrastructure.
Paula Kar, Chief Product Officer of Northern Trust Asset Management, said tokenization delivers meaningful advantages, including improved settlement efficiency and enhanced visibility, and that money market funds are at the leading edge of digital innovation. Michael Hunstad, Ph.D., President of Northern Trust Asset Management, said the firm is offering clients a modern, digital-first way to access money market investments while maintaining its standards of governance, risk management and service. The firm reported US$355 billion in liquidity strategies AUM as of the same date.
The release notes that the Portfolio does not currently employ blockchain technology or invest in crypto assets. Shares are expected to be purchased and held through intermediaries that will maintain blockchain-based mirror records of ownership, and those intermediaries, not the Portfolio, NTI, TNTC or their affiliates, bear responsibility for those records. The release also states that the Portfolio seeks to preserve a $1.00 per share value but cannot guarantee it, and that the investment is not FDIC insured and carries no bank guarantee.
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