MV Capital | Aviva Investors Launches Tokenized Sterling Liquidity Fund Share Class on XRP Ledger

UK asset manager partners with Ripple to add blockchain access to its largest money market fund, committing $66 million in a second tokenized offering.

Aviva Investors, the global asset management arm of Aviva plc, has launched a tokenized share class of its Sterling Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger in partnership with Ripple. The announcement on October 26 expands the firm’s digital fund capabilities following a similar move with its US dollar liquidity product earlier in the year.

The Sterling Liquidity Fund is Aviva Investors’ largest, managing approximately $29.4 billion in assets. It is an Ireland-domiciled UCITS money market fund that has operated since 2002. The fund invests in high-grade, short-term sterling-denominated debt instruments and aims to deliver low-risk returns with daily liquidity.

Structure and Initial Commitment

The new share class uses a digital twin approach. Holdings are represented on the XRP Ledger while the underlying fund structure, portfolio, custody arrangements and regulatory protections remain unchanged off-chain. Investors in the tokenized class receive the same investment objective, risk profile and liquidity features as conventional shareholders.

Aviva has placed $66 million into the new sterling tokenized share class. Combined with its earlier US dollar liquidity fund tokenized share class, which went live in July, the firm now holds more than $116 million across the two offerings. This positions Aviva Investors among the larger providers of tokenized money market funds in Europe.

We’re thrilled to be able to announce the launch of our second fund in the tokenisation space, with the addition of the new tokenised share class for our GBP Liquidity Fund. This expansion of our tokenised offering shows our clear intent to be a leader in this area and sets the groundwork for a future expansion of our capabilities. We believe tokenised funds can increase efficiency and ultimately lead to improved client outcomes. Our partnership with Ripple has once again been vital to our efforts, and we look forward to continuing working together, as we look to further explore the possibilities of tokenisation.Mark Versey, CEO, Aviva Investors

Technology Partners and Access

The launch is supported by Komainu, a regulated institutional digital asset custodian, and Licuido, a digital infrastructure platform for tokenizing and trading real-world assets. The Bank of New York Mellon continues as custodian of the fund’s underlying assets. The tokenized shares are available to eligible investors who hold approved digital wallets.

The XRP Ledger provides the settlement layer for issuing and managing the share class. The network has processed more than four billion transactions since 2012, supports nearly eight million active wallets and is maintained by more than 130 independent validators. Transactions on the ledger are designed to be fast, low-cost and energy-efficient.

We are delighted to support Aviva Investors’ second tokenised fund launch on the XRP Ledger, which highlights the rapid pace of fund tokenisation across the investment industry. Markets are moving to 24/7 access and settlement is moving to real-time, always-on rails; this launch shows what that looks like in practice. As the bridge between traditional and digital finance, Ripple is helping institutions move, manage, hold and tokenise value on the XRP Ledger, which is bringing the compliance, privacy and security features needed by institutions.Nigel Khakoo, Senior Vice President, Trading and Markets, Ripple

Broader Context of the Collaboration

The sterling share class forms part of an ongoing collaboration between Aviva Investors and Ripple that began with plans to tokenize traditional fund structures. The first live product was the tokenized share class of the USD Liquidity Fund. Both offerings operate within existing regulatory frameworks and retain the legal and operational integrity of the original funds.

Only a portion of the Sterling Liquidity Fund’s assets is represented through the new tokenized class. The full $29.4 billion portfolio continues to operate under its established structure. Eligible investors can access the tokenized shares through digital wallets, subject to the same eligibility, identity and distribution requirements that apply to the conventional fund.

The arrangement creates an additional distribution channel while preserving the fund’s core characteristics as a regulated money market product focused on capital preservation and short-term sterling exposure.