The CEO of one of the world’s largest fund administrators thinks the answer to private credit’s distribution problem has been sitting on the blockchain this whole time.
Peter Hughes, who leads Apex Group, told Bloomberg that tokenization is essential for connecting family offices and wealth managers with the kind of institutional-grade private-market deals they’ve historically struggled to access. His firm, which administers over $3.5 trillion in assets across 52 countries, isn’t just talking about it. It’s building the infrastructure.
From thesis to execution
Apex has been stacking tokenization capabilities like a builder in a bull market. The firm acquired a majority stake in Tokeny in May 2025, building on a partnership that started in 2023. That acquisition gave Apex direct control over the T-REX Ledger, a compliance-focused issuance platform built on Polygon-based infrastructure designed for multi-chain distribution.
Then came Apex Digital 3.0, launched in July 2025. The platform handles the full lifecycle of tokenized assets: issuance, distribution, custody, and compliance.
A partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group, slated for February 2026, is expected to further broaden the tokenization of private funds.
Apex has put a number on its ambitions: $100 billion in tokenized assets under administration by June 2027.
Why private credit is the sweet spot
Hughes has been clear that the goal is facilitating real investment access, not creating another vehicle for speculative trading.
An Apex survey from May 2026 found that 50% of asset managers have adopted tokenization strategies. Among those, 45% reported they had already tokenized private-market assets, with private credit and private equity emerging as the most popular use cases.
Real-world proof points
Apex has moved beyond pilot programs into live tokenized products. The firm has tokenized a Bitcoin mining-related note on Coinbase’s platform. On the institutional side, Apex launched a tokenized real estate fund on Goldman Sachs’ GS DAP platform. These products are administered by a firm with 36 regulatory licenses.