Special purpose vehicle

A special purpose vehicle, or SPV, is a company, trust or partnership set up for a narrow purpose, such as owning one property, a pool of loans or a block of private shares. Its assets and liabilities are ring-fenced from the sponsor, so investors are exposed to the vehicle’s holdings rather than the sponsor’s balance sheet.

In tokenization, investors frequently buy tokens representing interests in an SPV that holds the underlying asset, instead of owning the asset directly. The SPV’s documents, not the token, define holder rights such as income, voting and redemption.

For allocators the structure adds legal clarity and bankruptcy remoteness when done well, but also fees, governance dependence on the manager and possible gaps between token and asset rights. Example: tokens offering exposure to pre-IPO companies are often issued against an SPV holding shares, which means holders do not own company stock and the company may not recognize them as shareholders.