BlockBeats news, on July 5, Thomas Sy, Head of Multi-Asset Solutions at New York Life Investments (NYLIM), stated that the next core application of tokenization will be enabling "personalized portfolio construction," rather than merely improving settlement efficiency or extending trading hours.
NYLIM manages approximately $807 billion in assets, with about $11 billion overseen by Sy’s team. He noted that blockchain technology has the potential to enable asset management firms to customize complex portfolio strategies for different investors at scale—an ability currently difficult to achieve within the traditional financial system.
Sy stated that the core of future asset management will shift toward “highly customized” solutions, and blockchain is the only technological pathway capable of achieving this at scale. He believes that tokenization is not merely about putting ETFs, bonds, or private credit on-chain, but more importantly, about reimagining the very way investment portfolios are constructed.
He also noted that current portfolios typically involve a mix of ETFs, bonds, and private assets, but due to operational complexity, personalized strategies are difficult to scale—tokenization, however, has the potential to "embed customization logic directly into the assets," reducing operational costs and improving efficiency.
In addition, Sy stated that stablecoins have become a key gateway for traditional finance to enter the blockchain, with their current market size exceeding $300 billion and being used for cross-border payments and fund management. He believes this trend will gradually drive increased institutional demand for on-chain yield-bearing assets.
In the realm of decentralized finance (DeFi), NYLIM is still exploring potential applications, but Sy emphasized that institutional participation requires more mature infrastructure, including tokenized collateral, liquidation mechanisms, and enhanced prime brokerage services.