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Federated Hermes enters strategic alliance with Conduit Digital Holdings on tokenised money market fund in Asia Pacific

PITTSBURGH, 1 September 2026 — Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE: FHI), a global leader in active investing, today announced a strategic alliance with Singapore-based Conduit Digital Holdings Pte Ltd, part of the Conduit Group, to support the launch of a regulated tokenised distribution structure in APAC. Under this arrangement, the Conduit-managed investment fund will invest in the Federated Hermes Short-Term U.S. Prime Fund. Shares of the Conduit fund, which provide exposure to the underlying Federated Hermes fund, will then be tokenised and offered to institutional and wholesale investors in APAC.

For over 50 years, Federated Hermes has been a leader in money market innovation, with US$676.9 billion in money market assets under management as of 30 June 2026. The Federated Hermes Short-Term U.S. Prime Fund is an actively managed, UCITS-authorised money market fund that aims to provide current income while maintaining daily liquidity and a stable principal value.

This announcement represents Federated Hermes’ first digital assets initiative in APAC, demonstrating a continued commitment to the growing digital asset ecosystem in the region through its role as the underlying asset manager to this tokenised offering.

Jim Roland, Head of Business Development, Asia Pacific and Australia at Federated Hermes: “Tokenized products represent a new and evolving way to engage with our clients, combining our investment expertise with Conduit’s MAS-regulated end-to-end tokenization capabilities and regional distribution network.”

Richard Schroder, Co-Founder and CEO of Conduit Digital Holdings: “We are delighted to work with Federated Hermes to have their U.S. Prime Fund as the anchor product of the CDH tokenized multicurrency money market offering. We are committed to unlocking the full utility of these tokens — moving beyond simple settlement to enable use as collateral, multicurrency management, and integration into AI agentic treasury management systems. This is where the real efficiency gains for our customers lie, and we are building the infrastructure to make that a reality.”

Chris O’Meara, CEO of Conduit Asset Management and Chairman of the Conduit Group: “This collaboration with Federated Hermes marks a defining moment for the Conduit Group. Conduit Digital Holdings sits at the heart of our vision for the future of asset management in Asia-Pacific — bringing institutional-grade products onchain through regulated, MAS-licensed infrastructure. As investment manager to the fund, Conduit Asset Management is proud to combine our fiduciary oversight with the strength of an active manager with over 50 years of money market leadership. The Group is fully committed to Conduit Digital Holding’s growth, and this launch is only the first step in building the institutional access layer for tokenized real-world assets across the region.”

This is a corporate communication and is not to be construed as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities in the US. Shares of the fund have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any of the states of the US, and may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly in the US or to or for the account or benefit of any US Person.

Bond Market Insights — Tues, 18 Aug 2026

US Treasuries were lower and curve steeper at NY close, 2s10s +2.6bps, 5s30s +3.8bps. CPI printed in line with expectations last week, while PPI and Retail Sales and employment stats coming in weaker, so markets have displayed a more dovish Fed outlook.

Countering this is the long end, which is flashing warning signs. 10yr and 30yr yields continue to rise, closing at 4.72% and 5.31% respectively. More noise from the Middle East endorses this.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran has shifted its policy from defensive to “fully offensive,” while warning that Iran is prepared to escalate tensions in the Straights of Hormuz if diplomacy fails. Trump threatened military action against Oman if it interferes with US. All eyes on oil.

US equities closed lower, S&P and Dow down around 0.5% and the Nasdaq 0.3%, supported by AI-driven tech. Anthropic reported a 14 fold y/y revenue surge in Q2, to over $11.5bn, lifting Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia and Apple in premarket and carrying through to the close. Chipmakers such as Marvell and Sandisk also performed. Financials, consumer and industrials were heavy.

As US long bond yield hit 20yr highs Japan Government Bonds (JGB’s) are reaching yields last seen in 1996, 30 years ago. 10yr JGB’s are trading at 2.94%. The market is expecting the BoJ to raise short term rates in September, but analysts are forecasting that such a move will cause more weakness further out.

Bond Market Insights — Mon, 03 Aug 2026

US equities were stronger Friday, S&P up 0.7%. US10yr yields rose 6bps to 4.73%, new highest since January 2025. 10yr settled at 4.69% and 2’s at 4.25%, the curve steepening. In the data US Michigan sentiment revised up 0.8pts to 55.2 in final read for July, driven by expectations. 1yr ahead and 5-10yr ahead inflation expectations steady at 4.2% and 3.3%, respectively.

The dissenters from last week’s Fed meeting issued statements Friday explaining their vote for a 25bp hike:

Kashkari stated “I would rather tighten policy incrementally as we gather more data on the path of inflation and employment. If inflation remains elevated … a potential series of small policy moves would be better than waiting and eventually concluding that even bolder actions were necessary”.

Hammack’s justification “I preferred to move at our recent meeting because I did not see the current policy stance as appropriately restrictive;” adding “the longer that high inflation persists, the more challenging and costly it can be to bring it back down.”

Logan: “Modest action in the near term would reduce the likelihood of needing to take sharper action later.”

Co-ordinated action on the fx front. Japan's Finance Ministry and the US Treasury were both in the market buying Japanese Yen. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is expected to confirm the manipulation today.

The IMF has a framework for currency intervention. The three-day rule restricts countries to no more than three such intervention episodes within a six-month period to maintain a "freely floating" exchange rate classification. Hence we are likely to see more posturing as central bankers do not want to use up their bullets.

It has been quite a month in equities. SOX plunged 21% in July as AI and semiconductor names were repriced. The market is looking for signs that hyperscaler capex translates into earnings.

Microsoft and Amazon sharply beat expectations, with Amazon earnings per share more than tripling on Anthropic paper gains, while Apple slumped following Tim Cook's final earnings call amid margin concerns and AI review system scrutiny. Meta also underperformed on spending. Financials have benefitted from all the volatility, with 85% of reporting companies beating EPS estimates.

Kospi 200 futures closed down 5.1% at 978.4 over the weekend as Morgan Stanley upgraded both Korean and Thai equities to Overweight. The news has been ignored by Korea, where the Kospi is down around 5% this morning, following Friday’s 18% surge, led by the usual two names.

Bond Market Insights — Fri, 31 July 2026

After the volatility of Wednesday, the market recovered nicely as we head towards the weekend. Buyers flooded back into semiconductors and mega-cap tech. Microsoft, continued to fly, after its cloud unit delivered its fastest growth in four years, adding roughly $450bn in market cap in a single session, the largest single-day value add by any stock on record. SOXX was up +8.50%.

The long end of US treasuries continues to be weak as the market pushed back against the Fed’s decision to remain sanguine about inflation, despite the 3 dissenters. PCE came in soft but still 3.3% y/y, personal consumption beat expectations, up 3.2% q/q adjusted. It is month end today and with the treasury refunding announcement due next week will keep on the long end.

The much talked about BOJ policy decision is today. Markets are pricing a low probability of a hike, although the JGB two-year auction demand was weak Thursday, signaling investors want action. A surprise hike would add a natural boost to JPY, which would suit the authorities who were intervening heavily last night. The action was supported by Bessent, who considered the yen undervalued.

Events: US June Personal Income & Outlays (PCE Deflator); Eurozone Q2 Preliminary GDP; China Official PMIs (Manufacturing/Non-Manufacturing); Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes due over the weekend.

Bond Market Update — Thurs, 30 July 2026

The Fed held rates steady, Fed Funds in a range 3.5%-3.75%. The vote was 9 - 3 with Hammack, Kashkari and Logan wanting rate hikes. The statement language was the same as the last meeting, noting that inflation remains elevated.

During Warsh's first press conference, he downplayed the influence of June's CPI report and noted the bond market appears to be signalling a strong and steady economy. Warsh reiterated eliminating forward guidance as letting the bond market dictate where rates should go.

US Treasuries were mixed, the curve steepening. 30yr yields finished above 5.20%, the highest since 2007, after P. Trump said the US would be "hitting Iran hard" after an attack on a US base in Jordan. Oil prices gained.

To add fuel to the fire (groan) EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report for w/e July 24th showed US crude stockpiles fell more than 7mm barrels, the lowest since 2018.

The S&P 500 fell 1.5%, the Dow was hit by weak industrials. The Nasdaq's slump, down 11% from its high, is hitting the Dow. Caterpillar dropped on growing State pushback on data centre construction. Vertiv also succumbed after missing Q2 sales estimates, although Bloom Energy surged after posting earnings more than double consensus and raising full-year guidance for the 2nd quarter, citing rampant data centre demand.

In after-hours Meta and Microsoft reported quarterly results sending the stocks in opposite directions. Meta was down 10% as AI infrastructure squeezed profits and the outlook for Q3 revenue was softer than expected. Microsoft rallied 3% as results were helped by healthy growth in Azure and Cloud, and by its investment in Anthropic.

This week has seen the return of CTAs, flagged as net sellers of approximately $7.5bn in global equity exposure regardless of tape direction, adding headwinds to any bounce.

In Japan the BOJ is expected to hold rates at 1.0% tomorrow, the highest in 31 years. Governor Ueda's tone on the timing of the next hike will be closely watched.

Nomura Holdings (8604 JP), my old shop, beat estimates with a 39% jump in net income for Q1 ending June 30th, boosted by equity trading, and yet the stock fell over 6%. Go figure.

The Kospi has fallen approximately 16% over two sessions and is about 40% off its June peak, circuit breakers evident. Leveraged ETF liquidations and retail margin calls have exacerbated the fall. Korean authorities held an emergency meeting and announced additional measures to curb leveraged ETF access.

SK Hynix's disappointing profit and elevated capex guidance was the initial catalyst; the selloff has since broadened well beyond semiconductors. Front-end Korean rates are now under pressure as financial stability concerns mount.

As a bit of relief, Samsung Electronics results this morning were initially met with a positive response, then a little slip as we await the conference call.

Market Insights — Wed, 29 July 2026

Rotation. S&P 500, a weighted index, was up marginally as the equal-weighted version hit a record high. The Dow added about 1%, driven by cyclicals and industrials, while the Nasdaq 100 closed down as semiconductor weakness continued. SOXX ETF was down 4.5%, with Nvidia, Micron and Sandisk providing the drag.

Buying shifted to consumer staples, financials and communication services, the latter being buoyed by Microsoft and Meta. UPS beat earnings expectations and raised full-year revenue guidance, lifting the broader industrials complex. Coca-Cola also reported, providing a read-through for consumer staples. The market focused away from the beneficiaries of the AI capital expenditure and back towards companies with real cash flow.

UST's rallied again, yields down 5bps as oil retreated, Brent falling to $84. FOMC meeting @ 2pm, followed by Warsh's first press conference at 2:30pm.

BOJ decides on rates later this week. The market is pricing roughly 1% probability of a hike, but any hawkish surprise would jolt USD/JPY lower and reprice domestic financial stocks sharply. A macro view circulating suggests the Nikkei and Topix continue to outperform so long as the yen and JGBs remain under pressure.

The Kospi suffered its fourth largest single-day decline on record yesterday, plunging over 10%. By Kospi it really means Samsung and SK Hynix. After market close SK Hynix reported Q2 operating profit and revenues, both of which were lower than expectations.

Loads of headlines to watch, many with different narratives for the same event. The mid-term elections are not until 3rd November this year. Could the Iranians et al look to drag things on until then, hoping for a more conducive political environment for a settlement?

Mid-terms elections in the US give the voting public the opportunity to check or consolidate presidential power. All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are being contested. The outcome will decide whether the Administration will have sufficient Congressional support to push through its agenda, or whether it will have 2 years of resistance and investigation.

Back in the real world, Thailand and Sri Lanka are closed today, all else open.