Singapore Greenlights Franklin Templeton's Pioneering Retail Tokenized Fund

Asset manager Franklin Templeton has received the green light from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to introduce its Franklin OnChain U.S. Dollar Short-Term Money Market Fund to retail investors.

The fund, structured under Franklin Templeton Investments VCC, will offer shares through the firm's blockchain-integrated transfer agency platform. A key feature is the low minimum investment of $20, aimed at broadening investor access.

The investment strategy of this novel Singaporean fund mirrors that of its Luxembourg-registered counterpart, the Franklin U.S. Dollar Short-Term Money Market Fund, which currently oversees $1.76 billion in assets. It will primarily invest in high-quality, short-term USD-denominated securities issued by governments and corporations globally, while actively minimizing currency exposure. The fund will be managed by Templeton Asset Management Ltd, with Franklin Advisers Inc serving as the sub-manager.

"The new fund marks a significant milestone in our commitment to harnessing the power of blockchain technology to lower the barriers to investing and deliver transformative products for investors in Asia-Pacific," Tariq Ahmad, Head of APAC at Franklin Templeton, said in a statement.

Franklin Templeton has been actively involved in exploring the potential of digital assets since 2018 and is a participant in MAS's Project Guardian, an initiative focused on exploring asset tokenization to enhance market liquidity and efficiency. The firm previously launched a similar tokenized money market fund in the United States in 2021, which was the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to utilize a public blockchain for transaction processing and share ownership recording.

This move by Franklin Templeton is part of a broader trend among major asset managers exploring tokenization. Firms like BlackRock and VanEck have also launched tokenized funds, primarily focused on U.S. Treasuries. However, Franklin Templeton's emphasis on a low minimum investment sets it apart, potentially opening up tokenized assets to a wider retail audience compared to offerings from competitors with higher entry barriers.