The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relative to wealth advisors and their clients.

Allspring Global Investments
Allspring Global Investments, a global asset manager with $590 billion under advisement, has just launched the Allspring (Lux) Worldwide Fund – Global Income Fund, a UCITS addition to its existing 17-strong Luxembourg range.

Allspring, which is a provider of active fixed income solutions, is making this multi-sector fixed income fund available to meet increased demand for the strategy from investors across the UK, continental Europe, and Asia, the firm said in a statement.

The new fund is based on Allspring’s Income Plus strategy, previously available exclusively to institutional investors and as a US mutual fund. The investment approach is to target attractive income and total return by allocating capital throughout the global fixed income universe. The strategy, which is unconstrained, has the flexibility to invest across government, securitised, investment grade, high yield and emerging market debt markets. The fund is designated as Article 8 under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and promotes environmental and/or social characteristics but does not have a sustainable investment objective. It is registered for distribution in Luxembourg and the UK and will be registered in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.

“This is a timely and important launch as we continue to broaden Allspring’s UCITS range to meet the needs of our global clients,” Andy Sowerby, head of the international client group at Allspring, said.

Franklin Templeton 
California-based investment manager Franklin Templeton has received approval from the Luxembourg regulator – Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier” (CSSF) – to launch the first fully-tokenized UCITS fund of its kind in Luxembourg. Shares in the fund will be issued using Franklin’s proprietary blockchain-enabled transfer agency platform, giving investors the benefit of the transparency, security, accuracy and immediacy made possible by blockchain technology, the firm said in a statement.

The fund, which is scheduled for launch over the next few months, will be the first tokenized UCITS fund on a public blockchain using in-house capabilities and technologies in Luxembourg; it is expected to be distributed throughout Europe pending regulatory approval. Details will be available to investors in due course, the firm added.  

“We want to be known as a leader in developing innovative solutions that align with the needs of our clients in terms of business growth, operational efficiency, and scalable best practices. Disruptive technology and innovation in financial services is reshaping the industry and changing the fundamental rules for how to attract, secure, and serve clients,” Franklin Templeton’s Sandy Kaul, head of digital assets and industry advisory services, said. “We believe that in the future, there may be opportunities to create other tokenized financial products, including interoperability with other digital assets and blockchain native facilities.” 

The expansion of this new capability signals Franklin Templeton’s confidence and belief in Web3 and digital technologies which it believes have the potential to reshape the asset management industry by creating new opportunities to link traditional asset management products and services more closely to transactional payments. Over the last four years, the firm said it has developed the resources, reach and expertise to support innovative solutions from beginning to end, including regulatory, custody, digital wallet creation, and the legal and risk management structures required for long-term success.

Harnessing the power of blockchain and tokenization
Blockchain is a decentralised digital ledger that records and verifies transactions in a secure, transparent, and immutable way. It enables peer-to-peer transactions without the need for intermediaries, ensuring that all data is permanently recorded and visible to everyone. While traditional databases can be vulnerable to security breaches, blockchain provides improved security and reduces administrative burden. 

The benefits of asset tokenization include increased liquidity, accessibility, composability and transparency. By applying the benefits of blockchain technology to a traditional product, investors will benefit from efficient transfer and cost-effective administration, the firm added.