The next frontier for blockchain finance is scaling personalized investment portfolios. Thomas Sy, head of multi-asset solutions at New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM), outlined this strategy, noting that embedding customization rules directly into digital assets will fundamentally restructure how portfolios are managed.
Asset managers expect this structural shift to drastically reduce operational complexity. Sy projects that automation driven by smart contracts can slash back-office costs by 10% to 20% across the industry.
The asset management sector is pulling blockchain technology away from experimental trading and plugging it into central operations. NYLIM executed on this strategy by partnering with Centrifuge to launch the Anemoy U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Segregated Portfolio. This marks the firm’s first tokenized investment product.
How Smart Contracts Accelerate the $26.4 Billion RWA Market
NYLIM is not alone in pushing blockchain beyond simple trade settlements. The on-chain value of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) surpassed $26.4 billion in early 2026. Competitors including BlackRock and J.P. Morgan are aggressively pursuing similar automation strategies. J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys platform has already settled over $900 billion in tokenized Treasuries.
These institutions are realizing that tokenization does more than enable weekend trading. By converting illiquid investments like private equity, real estate, and high-yield credit into fractionalized digital assets, portfolio managers can automatically rebalance thousands of multi-asset class portfolios without manual overhead.