The Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund (ACRED) is a tokenized feeder fund that provides on-chain access to the Apollo Diversified Credit Fund (ADCF), a private credit investment strategy managed by global alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management. Launched in partnership with the digital asset securities firm Securitize, ACRED tokenizes shares of the fund, making them available as a Real-World Asset (RWA) on multiple public blockchains for accredited investors.

Overview

The Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund was created to "democratize" access to institutional-grade private credit investments, an asset class traditionally reserved for large institutions. ^[1] The initiative represents a collaboration between Apollo, which manages the underlying investment portfolio, and Securitize, which provides the technology platform for tokenization, investor onboarding, compliance, and fund administration. ^[2]​

ACRED functions as a feeder fund, meaning it pools capital from its investors and invests substantially all of its assets directly into the master fund, the Apollo Diversified Credit Fund. ^[3] Each ACRED token represents a digital share of ownership in this feeder fund. The fund was designed with a multi-chain approach from its inception to maximize accessibility and enable composability within the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. ^[4] Its primary objective is to generate returns from both current income and capital appreciation, with an emphasis on low volatility and low correlation to broader public markets. ^[5]​

The fund's launch and subsequent integrations are part of a broader trend of bridging traditional finance (TradFi) with blockchain technology, using tokenization to create more efficient, transparent, and accessible financial products. ^[6]​

History and Milestones

The partnership between Apollo and Securitize was officially announced on January 30, 2025, with the immediate launch of the ACRED fund. Initial investors in the fund included Coinbase Asset Management and Kraken. ^[2] The fund was launched simultaneously on six public blockchains: Aptos, Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and the XDC Network (initially referred to as INK protocol). ^[4]​

On April 30, 2025, Securitize announced a collaboration with DeFi risk management firm Gauntlet to create the "Levered RWA Strategy" for ACRED. This initiative, which marked the fund's formal debut in the DeFi ecosystem, allows holders to use their ACRED tokens as collateral to borrow stablecoins and create leveraged yield positions. The strategy was first deployed on the Polygon network. ^{[7] [6]}​

The fund saw significant early adoption, surpassing 131.33 million. ^{[9] [5]}​

Fund Structure and Key Parties

ACRED operates through a structure involving several key entities, each with a distinct role in its management, operation, and technological implementation.

ACRED as a Tokenized Feeder Fund

The ACRED fund is legally structured as a tokenized feeder fund. It does not directly hold the credit assets but instead pools the capital raised from investors and invests substantially all of its net assets into shares of the master fund, the Apollo Diversified Credit Fund (ADCF). This two-tiered structure allows the master fund to operate traditionally while the feeder fund innovates with blockchain technology for distribution and administration. The fund is organized as a Delaware statutory trust. ^{[3] [1]}​

The Underlying Master Fund: Apollo Diversified Credit Fund (ADCF)

The ADCF is a non-traded, continuously offered, closed-end management investment company operated as an "interval fund." Its primary investment objective is to generate current income and capital appreciation, with an emphasis on low volatility and low correlation to broader markets. The fund employs a dynamic, multi-asset strategy across private and public credit, with allocations adjusted based on prevailing market conditions. ^[3]​

The investment strategy of ADCF is built on four pillars:

• Corporate Direct Lending: Senior secured or unitranche loans to large corporations, typically with over $75 million in EBITDA.
• Asset-Backed Lending: Investments collateralized by tangible and intangible assets, including consumer loans, infrastructure debt, and real estate.
• Performing Credit: Liquid senior secured corporate credit and high-quality structured products like Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs) and Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS).
• Dislocated Credit: Opportunistic investments in assets that are performing but undervalued due to market stress or other non-fundamental factors.

The fund maintains a policy of investing at least 80% of its assets in debt securities and credit instruments and targets a short average portfolio duration, typically between 1.5 and 3 years. It is also authorized to use leverage up to 33.33% of its consolidated assets. ^[3]​

Key Parties and Roles

• Asset Manager (Underlying Fund): Apollo Global Management, through its affiliates Apollo Capital Credit Adviser, LLC and Apollo Credit Management, LLC, is responsible for the investment strategy and management of the ADCF. ^[3]
• Tokenization Platform: Securitize provides the end-to-end infrastructure for the ACRED fund.
• General Partner: Securitize Capital, LLC acts as the general partner for the feeder fund.
• Fund Administrator: Securitize Fund Services, LLC is the fund administrator.
• Placement Agent & Broker-Dealer: Securitize Markets, LLC, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA/SIPC member, is the exclusive platform for qualifying investors to purchase shares of ACRED.
• Digital Transfer Agent: Securitize, LLC serves as the SEC-registered transfer agent, maintaining the official record of ACRED token holders.
• Interoperability Partner: Wormhole provides the cross-chain protocol that enables the secure transfer of ACRED tokens between supported blockchains. ^[10]
• DeFi Strategy Partner: Gauntlet, a DeFi risk management firm, partnered with Securitize to design and manage the risk parameters for the ACRED levered yield strategy. ^[7]
• Oracle Partner: Redstone provides the on-chain oracle service that delivers the fund’s daily Net Asset Value (NAV) price feeds, enabling accurate and transparent valuation for DeFi applications. ^[9]

Technical Architecture and Tokenization

The ACRED fund is built on a multi-chain framework designed to provide flexibility for investors and enable broad integration with the DeFi ecosystem.

Multi-Chain Deployment

ACRED was launched as a native multi-chain asset. This strategy allows investors to choose their preferred blockchain ecosystem based on factors like transaction fees, speed, or specific DeFi opportunities. ^[4]The supported blockchains include:

• Ethereum
• Polygon
• Avalanche
• Solana
• Aptos
• XDC Network (Ink)
• Sei (added post-launch)

The selection of these networks provides ACRED a presence across both EVM-compatible and non-EVM blockchains. ^{[2] [9]}​

Interoperability via Wormhole

To ensure seamless asset movement between its supported networks, ACRED utilizes the Wormhole protocol as its official interoperability solution. This integration allows ACRED holders to transfer their tokens from one blockchain to another (e.g., from Ethereum to Solana) while maintaining their ownership records and compliance wrappers. This cross-chain functionality is crucial for accessing fragmented liquidity and platform-specific applications across the DeFi landscape. ^[10]​

Compliant DeFi Interaction

To facilitate the use of ACRED in DeFi protocols while adhering to securities regulations, Securitize developed a specialized wrapper token standard. Investors can mint a derivative token, such as sACRED, which is designed to be used in whitelisted DeFi protocols. This standard ensures that only eligible, verified investors can hold and transact with the asset, maintaining a compliant environment even within permissionless systems. ^[6]​

DeFi Integration: Levered RWA Strategy

A significant milestone for ACRED was its integration into DeFi through a levered yield strategy developed by Securitize and Gauntlet. This marked one of the first instances of a major tokenized private credit fund being used as productive collateral in a structured DeFi product.

The strategy's objective is to offer potentially enhanced yields by combining the stable returns of the underlying credit fund with leverage enabled by DeFi lending protocols. ^[7] The mechanism, sometimes referred to as "looping," operates as follows:

1. An eligible investor deposits ACRED tokens into a specialized vault smart contract.
2. The vault deposits the ACRED as collateral into a lending protocol (initially on the Compound Blue instance powered by Morpho).
3. The vault borrows a stablecoin, such as USDC, against the ACRED collateral.
4. The borrowed USDC is programmatically used to purchase more ACRED, which is then re-deposited into the vault as additional collateral.
5. This recursive process is automated to create a leveraged position on ACRED's underlying yield.

Gauntlet's role is to provide the risk management framework, using its quantitative engine to set and monitor risk parameters like leverage ratios and automatically unwind positions during periods of market volatility to mitigate liquidation risk. The strategy was first launched on the Polygon network with plans for future expansion to Ethereum and other chains. ^[6]​

Investment Details and Performance

Investor Eligibility and Process

Investment in ACRED is restricted to "Accredited Investors" and "Qualified Purchasers" as defined by U.S. securities regulations. All prospective investors must undergo a Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) verification process on the Securitize Markets platform. The minimum initial investment is $50,000. ^[5]​

Subscriptions are processed on a daily basis and can be made instantly via a smart contract swap using USDC or USDG stablecoins. Redemptions are offered on a quarterly basis, where the fund offers to repurchase at least 5% of the underlying fund's outstanding shares at its current Net Asset Value (NAV). ^[5]​

Fees and Expenses

The ACRED feeder fund has a management fee of 0.5%. The estimated annual expense ratio is 0.72%, which includes management and operating expenses. Investors are also subject to the fees and expenses of the underlying ADCF master fund, which were approximately 3.34% for Class I shares as of December 31, 2024. ^{[5] [3]}​

Market Data and Performance

• Assets Under Management (AUM): Reached over 131.33 million on February 27, 2026. ^{[8] [5]}
• Historical Return: The 1-year historic return for the period ending February 28, 2026, was 8.77% net of fees and expenses. ^[5]

Key Figures and Quotes

Christine Moy, Partner and Head of Digital Assets at Apollo, commented on the fund's launch:

"Our mission is to provide our clients with access to what we believe are superior risk-reward investment opportunities, and we’re pleased to work with Securitize to now offer a digitally-native way to access a flagship Apollo credit strategy." ^[2]

​Carlos Domingo, Co-founder and CEO of Securitize, highlighted the significance of the partnership:

"The launch of ACRED is the beginning of a new category of digitally-native financial products managed by a world-class asset manager on multiple public blockchains... This new format automates and digitizes manual processes, enabling investors to buy and sell shares more easily, and provides fund managers with a simpler way to manage their funds and shareholder records." ^[2]

On the DeFi strategy, Reid Simon, Head of DeFi and Credit Solutions at Securitize, stated:

"With this strategy, we’re bridging the gap between TradFi and DeFi yields by combining the stability of institutional-grade credit with crypto-native leverage in a risk-managed, automated solution." ^[6]