Aviva Investors opens a tokenized share class of its £22 billion sterling cash fund on the XRP Ledger and seeds it with £50 million

Aviva Investors, the asset management arm of the UK insurer Aviva, has launched a tokenized share class of its biggest fund on the XRP Ledger, Ripple announced on Monday.

The new share class belongs to the Aviva Investors Sterling Liquidity Fund, a money market fund with about £22 billion under management. Launched in 2002, it is domiciled in Ireland and regulated as a UCITS fund, and invests in high-quality, short-term sterling debt with daily liquidity, The Block reported. Aviva has invested £50 million ($66 million) in the tokenized class, which is open to eligible investors with a digital wallet.

The fund uses what the firms call a "digital twin" model. Investors' holdings are represented on the ledger, while the fund and its existing arrangements stay off-chain. Aviva says the tokenized shares carry the same objective, risk profile, liquidity and regulatory protections as the ordinary ones, according to The Block. BNY Mellon holds the fund's assets, and the custodian Komainu and the tokenization platform Licuido supported the launch.

It is Aviva Investors' second such launch. A tokenized share class of its US dollar liquidity fund went live in July, and Aviva's investment across the two now exceeds £86 million ($116 million). The two firms first announced their partnership in February.

"We believe tokenised funds can increase efficiency and ultimately lead to improved client outcomes," said Mark Versey, chief executive of Aviva Investors. Last week, Franklin Templeton added $150 million of its tokenized money market fund to the same ledger.