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.

Mar 08

 

The March issue of Crane Data'​s Money Fund Intelligence was e-​mailed to subscribers yesterday and our February 29, 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 2/​29/​12 data will be distributed on the 9th business day, March 13.) The new edition of MFI features the articles: "Battle Is Joined Over Pending 2a-​7 Proposals," which discusses the war over the SEC'​s pending Money Market Fund Reforms; "Invesco Thinks Long-​Term With Short-​Term Investing," our monthly fund "​profile" which interviews Invesco'​s Greg McGreevey, Lyman Missimer, and Tony Wong; and, "Insured Deposits Continue Soaring, But Is Party Over?," which reviews the status and pending expiration in 2012 of unlimited FDIC insurance on noninterest bearing accounts.

Our lead piece says, "Since the S.​E.​C. leaked details of its pending Money Market Fund Reform Proposals to The Wall Street Journal in early February, a frenzy of activity and lobbying has commenced. Money funds and the broader public have been deluged with comment letters, editorials, articles and studies, all discussing an imminent 2a-​7 proposal expected to include a capital buffer, '​holdback' or minimum provisions, and/​or a floating NAV option."

The Invesco Profile, which we'​ll excerpt later this month, tell us, "This month, Money Fund Intelligence speaks with Invesco’​s Greg McGreevey, CEO of Fixed Income; Lyman Missimer, head of global cash management; and Tony Wong, head of global cash management research. We ask the three about recent initiatives, pending regulatory proposals, and a number of other money fund-​related issues. Our interview follows."

The third feature piece in our monthly says, "​The FDIC'​s latest statistics show bank deposits continue raking in huge amounts of cash. But the expiration of the unlimited FDIC insurance coverage at the end of 2012 has the potential to bring hundreds of billions back into money funds." The March issue also contains monthly News, Indexes, top rankings and extensive performance tables. E-​mail info@​cranedata.​us to request the latest issue.

In other news, a press release entitled, "Federated Investors, Inc.'​s President and CEO J. Christopher Donahue to Present at Citi Financial Services Conference" says, "Federated Investors, Inc., one of the nation'​s largest investment managers, announced today that President and CEO J. Christopher Donahue is scheduled to present the company'​s strategy for growth at the Citi 2012 Financial Services Conference at 10:​25 a.​m. Eastern on Thursday, March 8, 2012. Investors and other interested parties can listen to a live webcast of the presentation via FederatedInvestors.​com. To listen to the live presentation, go to the About Us section of FederatedInvestors.​com at least 15 minutes prior to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay will be available on this site for seven days."