Money Fund Yields Inch Up to 5.20%
Money fund yields rose by another basis point in the week ended 11/24 to 5.20% after remaining unchanged for three weeks prior. (This is as measured by our Crane 100, which is an average of 7-day yields for the 100 largest taxable money funds.) Yields were 5.17% on 9/30, 5.16% on 8/31, 5.09% on July 31, 4.94% on June 30, 4.61% on March 31 and 4.05% on 12/31/22. The vast majority of money market fund assets now yield 5.0% or higher. Assets of money market funds rose by $53.5 billion last week to a record $6.178 trillion according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, they have risen by $136.7 billion since the start of November (after falling $31.9 billion in October). Weighted average maturities were unchanged last week. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 684), shows a 7-day yield of 5.10%, up 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.30% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.16%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.14%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.91%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.88%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 5.12%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 13 bps to 3.22%. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (11/24), 27 money funds (out of 812 total) yield under 3.0% with $17.4 billion in assets, or 0.3%; 103 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($113.6 billion, or 1.8%), 197 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($407.9 billion, or 6.6%) and 485 funds now yield 5.0% or more ($5.639 trillion, or 91.3%). Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.62%. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Nov. 24, shows that there were no changes over the past week. Three of the 11 major brokerages tracked by our BSI still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
