May 04

 

Crane Data released a "​beta" version of its latest product enhancement, the Money Fund Portfolio Laboratory this week. Designed as an online complement to our Money Fund Portfolio Holdings dataset, the Portfolio Laboratory allows subscribers to our Money Fund Wisdom service to build custom aggregate money fund portfolios and to "​X-​ray" and analyze the underlying holdings by country, issuer, maturity and category. Choose "​Laboratory Beta" underneath our "​Wisdom" menu to explore this new feature, or e-​mail Pete for demo access or more details. In other news, ICI'​s latest "​Money Market Mutual Fund Assets" says, "Total money market mutual fund assets decreased by $​14.​78 billion to $​2.​567 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, May 2, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Taxable government funds decreased by $​3.​51 billion, taxable non-​government funds decreased by $​12.​39 billion, and tax-​exempt funds increased by $​1.​12 billion."

Apr 09

 

The April issue of Crane Data'​s Money Fund Intelligence was e-​mailed to subscribers Monday morning, and our March 31, 2012 monthly performance data and rankings were distributed via our Money Fund Intelligence XLS monthly spreadsheet, our Money Fund Wisdom database query website and our Crane Index money fund averages series. (​Our monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings with 3/​31/​12 data will be distributed on the 9th business day, April 13.) The new edition of MFI features the articles: "Another Two Bite the Dust: Consolidation Becomes Real," which discusses the pending liquidations and exits of Fifth Third and Victory Funds from the money fund space; "Talking Tax Exempts w/​Western Asset'​s Amodeo," our monthly fund "​profile" which interviews Western Muni MMF Managers Robert Amodeo and Charles Bardes; and, "No Truce in MMF Reform Debate; No Proposal Yet," which discusses recent (​unsuccessful) attempts to compromise over pending regulations.

Our lead piece says, "We'​ve been arguing for years that predictions of consolidation in the money fund space have been greatly exaggerated, but the latest couple of announcements have us rethinking our position. Two decent-​sized, long-​term players (​as opposed to the fringe outfit that have folded to date) have recently announced exits -- Fifth Third will have its money funds liquidated and its assets merged into Federated, and KeyBank'​s Victory Funds is also calling it quits and liquidating."

Money Fund Intelligence explains, "In the past two years, we'​ve seen Old Mutual, Paypal, Pacific Capital, Pioneer (​partial), Scout (​UMB), Ridgeworth (​merged into Federated), Eagle (​Raymond James), and a handful of others announce liquidations. The number of funds tracked by Crane Data has fallen from 1,​310 to 1,​209, which also includes lots of mergers and stream-​linings."

The Western Asset Profile, which we'​ll excerpt later this month, tell us, "This month, MFI interviews managers of `​Western Asset Management'​s Municipal Money Market Funds. We speak with Robert Amodeo, Portfolio Manager and Head of the Municipal Group, and Charles Bardes, a Portfolio Manager on the Tax-​Exempt Money Market Mutual Funds. The two have been running money funds with the unit since its days as Salomon Brothers Asset Management (​in the late '​80'​s/​early '​90'​s), which then became Citigroup Asset Management and eventually was acquired by Western parent Legg Mason. Our Q&​A involving tax-​exempt money fund issues follows."

The third feature piece in our monthly says, "Despite SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter'​s recent call for a "​step back" and a "​re-​engage"-​ment in the discussion over additional money market fund regulatory reforms, the public battle between the money fund industry and the bank regulatory community rages on. While a number of the most public comments occurred at the ICI'​s Phoenix Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference, regulators and industry participants continue to wage a PR war on multiple fronts. The pending reform proposal, which The Wall Street Journal claimed was imminent, remains nowhere to be seen. (​We'​re guessing June.)"

The April MFI also contains monthly News, Indexes, top rankings and extensive performance tables. E-​mail info@​cranedata.​us to request the latest issue. Subscriptions to Money Fund Intelligence are $​500 a year and include web access to archived issues and fund "​profiles". Additional users are $​250 and bulk pricing and "​site licenses" are available. Crane Data'​s other products include: Money Fund Intelligence XLS ($​1K/​yr), MFI Daily ($​2K/​yr), Money Fund Wisdom ($​4K/​yr), MFI International ($​2K/​yr), and Brokerage Sweep Intelligence ($​1K/​yr).

Mar 08

 

Money Fund Symposium, Crane Data'​s annual money market mutual fund conference (​the 4th one will be in Pittsburgh, June 20-​22), is featured in Meeting Planning firm Kinsley Associates' latest "In the Know" newsletter, in an article entitled, "5 Keys to Successful Conferences and Meetings for Small Businesses." The article cites the show'​s dramatic growth in its first three years and says, "Many small companies fall prey to the belief that only large companies are poised to include conferences and meetings in their solution offerings. Admittedly, larger companies may have more advantages due to their size, but smaller companies can reap the same benefits if they partner with the right company and utilize best practices. In fact, smaller companies can achieve fantastic results because they are small and nimble. Crane Data, a company with just seven employees hired Kinsley Meetings to help with its initial conference. These are the keys to success we employed for Crane Data that prove small companies can successfully navigate conferences and meetings: 1. Plan Ahead. 2. Speakers and content drive the momentum. 3. Leverage existing products/​services. 4. Destination is key. 5. Hire the right company. Hosting a conference or meeting takes strategic planning and attention to detail. Finding the right partner is crucial to conducting a successful conference or meeting.... In the case of Crane Data, Kinsley Meetings handles all the logistics for the conferences, including the destination, venue, registration, and all the fine details. This well-​defined separation of responsibilities enables Peter to focus on the educational content of the meeting, and Kinsley to focus on its core strength: meetings." For more on Crane'​s Money Fund Symposium, visit http://​www.​moneyfundsymposium.​com.

Feb 24

 

Crane Data'​s Peter Crane will be featured on a Webinar hosted by StoneCastle Cash Management on Tuesday, February 28 from 4-​5pm. (​To register, go here.) StoneCastle'​s description says, "In response to the many questions related to recent money fund headlines and decline in earned credit yields, StoneCastle Cash Management is hosting the webcast, Cash Management Today: Beyond the Headlines, with special guests Peter Crane, President of Crane Data.... The call is scheduled for Tuesday, February 28th at 4pm. This call is geared for the treasury professional." In other news, ICI reported its latest weekly "​Money Market Mutual Fund Assets" Thursday. It says, "Total money market mutual fund assets increased by $​6.​22 billion to $​2.​665 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, February 22, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Taxable government funds decreased by $​9.​86 billion, taxable non-​government funds increased by $​16.​02 billion, and tax-​exempt funds increased by $​60 million." The numbers show a shift from Government to Prime funds, saying, "​Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $​4.​25 billion to $​1.​743 trillion. Among institutional funds, taxable government money market fund assets decreased by $​10.​07 billion to $​713.​02 billion, taxable non-​government money market fund assets increased by $​14.​99 billion to $​934.​30 billion, and tax-​exempt fund assets decreased by $​670 million to $​95.​26 billion."