Money Fund Yields Flat Again at 5.14%
Money fund yields remained at 5.14% on average (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index) in the week ended March 28, after also going unchanged the week prior. Our Crane 100 is an average of 7-day yields for the 100 largest taxable money funds. Yields were 5.14% on 3/31 and 2/29/24, 5.17% on 1/31/24, 5.20% on 12/31/23, 4.94% on 6/30/23, 4.61% on 3/31/23 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 fell by $97.7 billion last week to $6.397 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 712), shows a 7-day yield of 5.04%, unchanged in the week through Thursday. Prime Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.24% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were up 1 bp at 5.12%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 5.07%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.86%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.83%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 5.05%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 26 bps at 3.24%. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Thursday (3/28), 18 money funds (out of 833 total) yield under 3.0% with $599 million in assets, or 0.0%; 107 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($128.4 billion, or 2.0%), 245 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($1.081 trillion, or 16.9%) and 463 funds now yield 5.0% or more ($5.188 trillion, or 81.1%). 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 Mar. 28, shows that there was 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.
