Neuberger tokenized fund puts CLOs and leveraged loans on-chain

Neuberger has put CLOs and leveraged loans on-chain. The $230bn alternatives manager built the Neuberger Securitize High Income Tokenized Fund (HINC) with Securitize, and the high-yield strategy runs on Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana and Sui, Alternative Credit Investor reports.

High-yield bonds come first; CLOs and leveraged loans are the private-credit edge. Neuberger is subadvisor and contributes its fixed income process; the fund takes only eligible accredited investors and qualified purchasers. Anil Abraham, Neuberger's head of product management, says the vehicle extends the firm's actively managed approach to qualified investors who want fixed income on-chain.

Securitize has tokenized funds for Apollo and Hamilton Lane before. The CLO and loan component is what lands this product on the private credit desk. PCD's own coverage tracks a CLO market that has become the liquidity valve for private credit: Janus Henderson's AAA CLO ETF has crossed $30bn. It pulled $5.7bn of inflows this year. Managers keep resetting and reopening securitization shelves. A tokenized wrapper is a new way to serve the same demand.

Beneath the wrapper, this is plain structured credit. HINC's CLO and leveraged loan positions stand or fall with the same borrowers that populate any structured credit portfolio. The tokenized version gives qualified investors another route to the income stream, on networks they already use.