Federated Hermes enters strategic alliance with Conduit Digital Holdings on tokenized money market fund in Asia Pacific

Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE: FHI), a global leader in active investing, today announced a strategic alliance with Singapore-based Conduit Digital Holdings Pte Ltd, part of the Conduit Group, to support the launch of a regulated tokenized distribution structure in APAC. Under this arrangement, the Conduit-managed investment fund will invest in the Federated Hermes Short-Term U.S. Prime Fund. Shares of the Conduit fund, which provide exposure to the underlying Federated Hermes fund, will then be tokenized and offered to institutional and wholesale investors, in APAC. For over 50 years, Federated Hermes has been a leader in money market innovation with US$676.9 billion 1 in money market assets under management. The Federated Hermes Short-Term U.S. Prime Fund is an actively managed, UCITS-authorized money market fund that aims to provide current income while maintaining daily liquidity and a stable principal value. It invests primarily in high-quality, U.S. dollar-denominated short-term debt instruments like commercial paper and certificates of deposit. Federated Hermes' strategic alliance with Conduit builds on a series of recent money market initiatives including: an alliance with UK-based Archax, an FCA-regulated digital securities exchange, to provide tokenized access to three UCITS money market funds; participation in an industry-wide, regulated initiative using mirrored tokenization to enhance transferability, collateral utility and real-time tracking of fund shares; and the launch of Federated Hermes' first GENIUS Act-aligned money market fund in the US, designed to support stablecoin reserve use cases, with potential for future tokenization /tokenized share classes. Federated Hermes' approach to regulated digital assets, tokenization and next-generation investment infrastructure is led by Kevin Barr, who was appointed as Director, Digital Assets Product and Platform Strategy in May 2026. This announcement represents Federated Hermes' first digital assets initiative in APAC, demonstrating a continued commitment to the growing digital asset ecosystem in the market by enhancing visibility and supporting customer needs through its role as the underlying asset manager to this tokenized offering. Earlier this year, Federated Hermes announced plans to expand its Asia-Pacific footprint - which includes existing offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney - with the opening of a Hong Kong office as part of a long-term growth strategy to deepen relationships with private banks, family offices, wealth intermediaries and institutional investors across the region. 1 As of 30 June 2026 Kevin Barr, Director, Digital Assets Product and Platform Strategy at Federated Hermes comments: "We are excited to support innovative cash management solutions that better serve client needs, building on our legacy of innovation in the money market fund space. Vaults represent a compelling evolution in investment management, and we see a significant opportunity to bring our legacy of trust and fiduciary responsibility to this emerging space. We continue to explore on-chain distribution opportunities to enhance flexibility and accessibility, while preserving access to the stability and yield characteristics typically associated with money market funds. Today's announcement reflects our continued commitment to building a larger digital asset presence, leveraging one of our core strengths in liquidity management. Jim Roland, Head of Business Development, Asia Pacific and Australia at Federated Hermes further added: "Tokenized products represent a new and evolving way to engage with our clients, combining our investment expertise with Conduit's MAS-regulated end-to-end tokenization capabilit...