New DeFi protocol Grove provides $1bn in inflows for Janus Henderson onchain
A new $1 billion allocation to the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Strategy (JAAA) has been completed onchain via a new decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol from Grove, an institutional-grade credit infrastructure protocol set up as a liquidity engine of DeFi.
The capital infusion was from the Sky Ecosystem (formerly MakerDAO), which approved the allocation using Grove’s protocol into JAAA, which is thought to first CLO strategy to be offered onchain and was launched in partnership with Centrifuge. The strategy is managed by the same portfolio managers behind Janus Henderson’s $21 billion AAA CLO ETF.
Managed by Portfolio Managers John Kerschner, Nick Childs and Jessica Shill, JAAA is an actively managed ETF that invests in high-quality CLOs and seeks high yield without sacrificing quality or extending duration. Officials say that the strategy offers global onchain investors an institutional-grade solution which seeks capital preservation with attractive yield.
“Demand for access to TradFi asset classes in DeFi continues to build momentum, as evidenced by the rapid growth of tokenized treasuries to $7.3 billion from $500 million in 2023 with Treasury bills and other assets moving onchain,” said Sam Paderewski, co-founder of Grove Labs, which incubated the Grove protocol.
“While tokenized treasuries have paved the way, there’s a growing demand for more diversified, high-quality assets onchain,” said Anil Sood, chief strategy and growth officer of Centrifuge. “Instead of simply wrapping an offchain ETF, together with Janus Henderson we’ve brought JAAA fully onchain, unlocking operational efficiencies, reducing intermediary costs, and expanding access to a broader, global base of capital allocators.”
The development provides investors with the flexibility to “pivot” between TradFi and DeFi yield environments, according to Paderewski.
Grove is on the decentralized Sky Ecosystem. Grove Labs is a subsidiary of Steakhouse Financial with Mark Phillips, Kevin Chan and Paderewski as co-founders.
Steakhouse Financial also collaborated with Sky Ecosystem and is seeking to innovate by bringing real world assets (RWAs) to DeFi. The firm provides capital formation, credit structuring, risk management and strategic advisory services with clients across both TradFi and DeFi.
Paderewski worked at Hildene Capital Management prior to joining Steakhouse in 2022.
“The launch of Grove comes at a pivotal time when TradFi and DeFi are converging and to serve as a gateway between these two critical financial ecosystems,” Paderewski added. “CLOs are just one of the many assets ripe for movement into DeFi due to their attractive yield profile and structure, and we are excited to partner with Janus Henderson and Centrifuge on the debut application of Grove’s infrastructure.”
Janus Henderson was proud to be part of the debut following the firm’s AAA CLO strategy attracting the most inflows among all actively managed fixed-income ETFs. Earlier this year the strategy had hit the $20 billion mark after launching in 2024 at $5.3 billion. JAAA swelled to $16.6 billion by the end of 2024, according to the firm that saw strong inflows in early 2025.
This was another way for executives to meet the growing investor appetite for new fixed income products, according to executives.
“When Grove approached us to bring this strategy onchain, we were impressed by their clear vision for building the onchain economy,” said Nick Cherney, head of Innovation at Janus Henderson Investors. “Our innovation strategy is focused on preparing for the possibility that blockchain technology will transform traditional finance in the long term. We are excited to partner with Grove and Centrifuge who share that vision, and are leaders in making it a reality. Bringing this actively managed credit strategy fully onchain is a huge leap forward in the integration of RWAs into Defi. We look forward to a long-term partnership.”
For now at Grove, the team is evaluating future offerings spanning both onchain and offchain assets. The company’s other current products include BUIDL or BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund.