Crane 100 MF Index Dips to 5.19%
Money fund yields were down one basis point in the week ended Dec. 8, at 5.19% on average (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after remaining unchanged the week prior. Our Crane 100 is an average of 7-day yields for the 100 largest taxable money funds. Yields were 5.20% on 11/30, 5.19% on 10/31, 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 $46.2 billion last week to $6.299 trillion according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Weighted average maturities were unchanged last week. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 689), shows a 7-day yield of 5.09%, down 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.30% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 5.16%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 5.12%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.90%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.86%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 5.12%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 32 bps to 2.72%. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (12/8), 112 money funds (out of 817 total) yield under 3.0% with $115.7 billion in assets, or 1.8%; 19 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($14.0 billion, or 0.2%), 210 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($1.054 trillion, or 16.7%) and 476 funds now yield 5.0% or more ($5.115 trillion, or 81.2%). Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was down 1 bp at 0.61%. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Dec. 8, shows that there was one change over the past week. Last week, RW Baird moved rates to 2.03% for all balances between $1K and $999K, to 3.17% for balances between $1 million and $1.9 million, and to 4.11% for balances of $5 million and over for the week ended December 8. 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.
