Aviva adds XRPL share class to £22bn sterling fund

Aviva Investors and Ripple launched a tokenised share class of Aviva’s £22 billion Sterling Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger on 26 October, giving eligible investors an on-chain route to holdings in the existing money-market fund. Aviva Investors’ announcement describes the arrangement as a “digital twin”: investors’ holdings are represented on-chain, while the fund structure remains off-chain. The £22 billion figure is the size of the whole fund, not the amount represented by tokens; Aviva says it invested £50 million in the new share class.

What does the digital twin put on-chain?

It adds an on-chain representation of holdings in the fund, rather than moving the fund’s portfolio onto the ledger. The fund is an Ireland-domiciled UCITS money-market fund that was launched in 2002. Its investment objective is to seek low-risk returns and daily liquidity through exposure to high-grade, sterling-denominated short-term debt instruments. The announcement says the tokenised class has the same investment objective, risk profile, liquidity characteristics and regulatory protections as the conventional fund.

Aviva identifies the XRP Ledger as the network used to issue and manage the class, but its announcement does not name a token standard, describe the on-ledger transaction flow, or specify transfer controls. It therefore confirms the digital representation and ledger, but not the contract or rule set that governs issuance, redemption or transfers. Ripple’s claim that the ledger supports real-time, always-on settlement is a statement about the network’s capabilities; the announcement does not establish that this fund’s shares can be redeemed or traded continuously.

Who holds the assets and who can access the class?

The fund’s assets remain with its custodian, The Bank of New York Mellon, according to Aviva. Eligible investors need digital wallets to access the tokenised class. Komainu, a regulated institutional digital-asset custodian, and Licuido, a digital infrastructure platform, supported the launch. Aviva says the structure is designed to operate within existing regulatory frameworks.

The Block’s report puts the fund’s total assets at about $29.4 billion and notes that tokenised holdings are represented on-chain while the fund itself remains off-chain. The report also says Aviva’s first tokenised class, for its US Dollar Liquidity Fund, launched in July. Aviva says more than £86 million is now invested across the two tokenised share classes, including its £50 million investment in the new sterling class.

How much of the fund is tokenised?

The launch does not mean that the full £22 billion fund has moved onto the XRP Ledger. Aviva’s announcement gives the £50 million investment in the new class and the combined figure of more than £86 million invested across both tokenised classes; it does not state the total value of sterling shares represented on-chain. Those amounts are small relative to the whole fund, and the announcement does not provide a token supply, minimum subscription, or redemption schedule for the new class.

The distinction matters for the technical claim. The ledger is being used as a digital access and holdings layer alongside the conventional fund structure. The fund’s portfolio, custody and investment terms remain tied to that structure. Aviva says tokenisation may improve efficiency and client outcomes; those are the manager’s expected benefits, not measured results reported with the launch.

References

• Aviva Investors’ announcement — avivainvestors.com
• The Block’s report — theblock.co