Money Fund Yields Inch Up to 5.20%
Money fund yields were up one basis point to 5.20% on average (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index) in the week ended Dec. 29, after remaining unchanged for the 3 weeks 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 $32.6 billion last week to $6.300 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 5.10%, up 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst MFs were up 1 bp at 5.31% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were up 2 bps at 5.17%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.12%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.91%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.87%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 5.13%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 31 bps to 3.69%. According to Tuesday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (12/29), 4 money funds (out of 818 total) yield under 3.0% with $14.0 billion in assets, or 0.0%; 107 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($99.6 billion, or 1.6%), 212 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($691.7 billion, or 11.0%) and 495 funds now yield 5.0% or more ($5.509 trillion, or 87.4%). Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.61%. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Dec. 29, 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.
