Janus Henderson Launches $1 Billion Tokenized CLO Strategy in DeFi

Janus Henderson, a prominent investment firm, has made a significant move into the decentralized finance (DeFi) space by launching a tokenized version of its Collateralized Loan Obligation (CLO) strategy. The newly tokenized Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Strategy (JAAA) has seen a substantial inflow of $1 billion from the Sky ecosystem, marking a notable intersection between traditional finance (TradFi) and DeFi.

This development follows Janus Henderson's previous collaboration with Anemoy and Centrifuge, which resulted in the launch of its first tokenized fund offering access to short-term US Treasury bills in September of the previous year. Nick Cherney, Janus Henderson’s innovation head, highlighted the importance of integrating robust institutional collateral pools into decentralized autonomous organizations and stablecoin ecosystems as a key component in bridging the gap between TradFi and DeFi.

The tokenized CLO strategy is based on the firm's existing CLO ETF, which was launched in 2020 and has amassed over $20 billion in assets under management. This fund focuses on generating income through collateralized loan obligations of various maturities. Sam Paderewski, co-founder of Grove Labs, emphasized that CLOs are particularly well-suited for movement into DeFi due to their attractive yield profiles and structural advantages.

Janus Henderson's decision to move funds onchain reflects the firm's strategic preparation for the potential long-term transformation of traditional finance by blockchain technology. This move is part of a broader trend where tokenized private credit and tokenized Treasury products have seen considerable growth over the past year, although their market values remain relatively modest compared to the overall stablecoin market cap of around $240 billion.

The tokenized CLO offering represents another step in the evolution of DeFi, which many industry experts anticipate will become a massive space. As the intersection of TradFi and DeFi continues to deepen, Janus Henderson's initiative serves as a notable example of how traditional financial institutions are adapting to the emerging landscape of decentralized finance.