# Federated Hermes Plans First Directly Issued Tokenized Fund Shares

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/31100
Published: 2026-10-13T12:16:35.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-13T12:16:35.000Z
Section: Business

> The $911.6 billion asset manager is working with Prometheum to offer blockchain-based fund share classes through traditional brokerages and financial advisers in early 2027.

Federated Hermes plans to issue its first directly issued tokenized fund share classes in early 2027, giving the $911.6 billion asset manager a more direct role in the blockchain-based distribution of investment products.

The Pittsburgh-based firm is working with Prometheum to make the share classes available through traditional brokerages and financial advisers. Federated Hermes has not identified the funds or blockchain networks involved.

Money market funds are a likely starting point because of the company’s large liquidity-management business. Federated Hermes had $676.9 billion in money market assets as of June 30, including $499.9 billion in money market fund assets.

“There’s enormous interest in the industry at large around tokenized money market funds, [and] it aligns very well with the ballast of our franchise, which has been our liquidity funds,” Kevin Barr, Federated Hermes’ director of digital asset products and platform, said.

Prometheum is expected to provide brokerage, custody, clearing and settlement through its Securities and Exchange Commission-registered broker-dealer subsidiaries. Prometheum describes its platform as supporting the issuance, distribution, custody and correspondent clearing of blockchain-based securities.

Federated Hermes has previously participated in arrangements in which outside platforms issued digital representations of its funds, including work involving Archax, Goldman Sachs and Conduit Digital. The planned structure would have Federated Hermes issue the tokenized share classes itself.

Tokenized money market funds and U.S. Treasury products have become prominent blockchain applications because they combine yield-bearing assets with potential around-the-clock transfers, automated recordkeeping and use as collateral.

“You can have instantaneous movement of those funds,” Barr said. “You can have programmability of those funds in a way that is perhaps more difficult or operationally inefficient with traditional infrastructure.”

Federated Hermes has not disclosed the share-class structure, investor eligibility, fees or required regulatory approvals. The planned launch refers to the firm’s first directly issued tokenized share classes, rather than necessarily the first tokenized fund shares in the broader market.

“Tokenization represents, in a lot of ways, a fundamental upgrade to financial market infrastructure for this generation,” Barr said.