Janus Henderson Launches $1 Billion Onchain CLO Strategy with Centrifuge

Janus Henderson, a leading global asset manager, has launched a $1 billion Collateralized Loan Obligation (CLO) strategy in collaboration with Centrifuge. This initiative brings Janus Henderson's flagship AAA CLO Strategy, JAAA, fully onchain, creating a blockchain-powered investment product tailored for the decentralized economy. Grove, an institutional credit platform within the Sky ecosystem, is seeding the fund with a substantial $1 billion allocation.

The partnership between Janus Henderson and Centrifuge signifies a major advancement in the convergence of traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). Grove's infrastructure acts as a bridge, enabling efficient and low-friction access to institutional-grade credit strategies. The team behind Grove brings extensive experience from both TradFi and DeFi sectors, with backgrounds at firms such as Deloitte, BlockTower Capital, Hildene Capital Management, and Citibank. Incubated by Steakhouse Financial and supported by Sky, Grove aims to bring real-world assets (RWAs) onchain in a secure, compliant, and capital-efficient manner.

Centrifuge played a crucial role in this endeavor by fully integrating the credit strategy into an onchain-native format, rather than simply wrapping an existing ETF. This approach reduces intermediary costs, enhances operational efficiency, and broadens access to a global base of capital allocators. Anil Sood, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer of Centrifuge, highlighted the growing demand for diversified, high-quality assets onchain, stating that the partnership with Janus Henderson unlocks operational efficiencies and broader investor access.

The JAAA strategy, managed by the same portfolio managers behind Janus Henderson’s $21 billion AAA CLO ETF, aims to preserve capital while delivering attractive yields. This launch provides onchain investors with an institutional-grade solution, representing a significant step beyond tokenized T-Bills. Janus Henderson emphasized its long-term innovation strategy and belief in blockchain’s transformative role in financial markets. Nick Cherney, Head of Innovation at Janus Henderson, noted that the AAA CLO strategy attracted the most inflows among all actively managed fixed income ETFs last year, underscoring the firm's commitment to innovation.

The initiative is also supported by Sky, whose protocol underpins stablecoins and continues to lead in the adoption of tokenized RWAs. Rune Christensen, co-founder of Sky, praised Grove's role in unlocking the power of RWAs for DeFi, highlighting the team's expertise and innovation in modernizing and diversifying portfolios.

Through Centrifuge, asset managers can bring institutional-grade credit strategies fully onchain, delivering regulated, tokenized investment vehicles to the DeFi ecosystem. This partnership aims to lead the shift toward more transparent, efficient, and programmable financial products, unlocking capital efficiency and expanding global access to traditionally exclusive asset classes. By embracing tokenization, Centrifuge, Grove, and Janus Henderson are paving the way for the next chapter in onchain capital, bridging the gap between TradFi and DeFi.

This strategy's immediate effects involve notable liquidity inflows into the Centrifuge protocol, impacting DeFi markets and tokenized RWA sectors. The $1 billion allocation has increased Total Value Locked (TVL) in these markets. Financial implications persist as tokenization supports expanding DeFi opportunities while reshaping traditional asset management. Centrifuge's governance token is linked directly to ancillary market movements.

Potentially, this strategy could set a precedent for broader regulatory adoption, given its compliance focus, drawing parallels with previous successful RWA integrations. The scale of this initiative suggests regulatory frameworks may evolve to support similar ventures, further bridging traditional assets with blockchain-based solutions.