The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published its latest monthly "Money Market Fund Statistics" summary yesterday, which shows that total money fund assets rose by $197.8 billion in November 2024 to a record $7.125 trillion. Assets jumped $93.3 billion in October and $166.6 billion in September 2024. The SEC shows Prime MMFs increased $12.9 billion in November to $1.187 trillion, Govt & Treasury funds increased $181.5 billion to $5.797 trillion and Tax Exempt funds increased $3.4 billion to $141.3 billion. Taxable yields fell again in November after plunging in October. The SEC's Division of Investment Management summarizes monthly Form N-MFP data and includes asset totals and averages for yields, liquidity levels, WAMs, WALs, holdings, and other money market fund trends. We review their latest numbers below. (In December month-to-date through 12/26, total money fund assets have increased by $101.8 billion to a record of $7.165 trillion, according to Crane Data's separate, and slightly smaller, MFI Daily series.)
November's asset jump follows an increase of $93.3 billion in October, $166.6 billion in September, $97.8 billion in August, $19.5 billion in July, $21.3 billion in June, and $89.7 billion in May. Assets decreased $17.7 billion in April and $68.5 billion in March, but increased $65.9 billion in February, $87.7 billion in January and $34.0 billion last December. Over the 12 months through 11/30/24, total MMF assets have increased by $787.7 billion, or 12.4%, according to the SEC's series.
The SEC's stats show that of the $7.125 trillion in assets, $1.187 trillion was in Prime funds, up $12.9 billion in November. Prime assets were up $16.4 billion in October, but down $5.6 billion in September and $25.1 billion in August. They fell $11.5 billion in July and $204.6 billion in June, but rose $19.7 billion in May. Assets were down $30.0 billion in April, up $8.1 billion in March and $33.5 billion in February, $52.5 billion in January and $1.2 billion in December. Prime funds represented 16.7% of total assets at the end of November. They've decreased by $132.2 billion, or -10.0%, over the past 12 months. (Note that the SEC's series includes a number of internal money funds not tracked by ICI, though Crane Data includes most of these assets in its collections.)
Government & Treasury funds totaled $5.797 trillion, or 81.4% of assets. They increased $181.5 billion in November, $73.2 billion in October, $171.2 billion in September, $121.9 billion in August, $31.3 billion in July, $229.2 billion in June, $65.5 billion in May and $9.3 billion in April. They decreased $78.8 billion in March, but increased $33.1 billion in February, $39.7 billion in January and $31.7 billion in December. Govt & Treasury MMFs are up $908.8 billion over 12 months, or 18.6%. Tax Exempt Funds increased $3.4 billion to $141.3 billion, or 2.0% of all assets. The number of money funds was 275 in November, unchanged from the previous month and down 15 funds from a year earlier.
Yields for both Taxable MMFs and Tax Exempt MMFs were lower in November. The Weighted Average Gross 7-Day Yield for Prime Institutional Funds on Nov. 30 was 4.78%, down 22 bps from the prior month. The Weighted Average Gross 7-Day Yield for Prime Retail MMFs was 4.79%, down 21 bps from the previous month. Gross yields were 4.70% for Government Funds, down 20 bps from last month. Gross yields for Treasury Funds were down 18 bps at 4.69%. Gross Yields for Tax Exempt Institutional MMFs were down 57 basis points to 2.97% in November. Gross Yields for Tax Exempt Retail funds were down 39 bps to 3.04%.
The Weighted Average 7-Day Net Yield for Prime Institutional MMFs was 4.67%, down 22 bps from the previous month and down 78 bps from 11/30/23. The Average Net Yield for Prime Retail Funds was 4.52%, down 21 bps from the previous month, and down 79 bps since 11/30/23. Net yields were 4.47% for Government Funds, down 21 bps from last month. Net yields for Treasury Funds were down 18 bps from the previous month at 4.47%. Net Yields for Tax Exempt Institutional MMFs were down 55 bps from October to 2.85%. Net Yields for Tax Exempt Retail funds were down 39 bps at 2.81% in November. (Note: These averages are asset-weighted.)
WALs and WAMs were mixed in November. The average Weighted Average Life, or WAL, was 51.1 days (up 0.5 days) for Prime Institutional funds, and 50.9 days for Prime Retail funds (down 0.6 days). Government fund WALs averaged 89.8 days (down 1.2 days) while Treasury fund WALs averaged 86.9 days (up 1.1 days). Tax Exempt Institutional fund WALs were 5.2 days (up 0.5 days), and Tax Exempt Retail MMF WALs averaged 31.3 days (down 1.2 days).
The Weighted Average Maturity, or WAM, was 31.3 days (up 1.2 days from the previous month) for Prime Institutional funds, 29.5 days (up 2.9 days from the previous month) for Prime Retail funds, 35.6 days (down 0.5 days from previous month) for Government funds, and 43.4 days (up 1.1 days from previous month) for Treasury funds. Tax Exempt Inst WAMs were up 0.5 days to 5.2 days, while Tax Exempt Retail WAMs were down 1.4 days from previous month at 30.5 days.
Total Daily Liquid Assets for Prime Institutional funds were 52.1% in November (down 1.0% from the previous month), and DLA for Prime Retail funds was 42.6% (down 2.0% from previous month) as a percent of total assets. The average DLA was 66.0% for Govt MMFs and 94.4% for Treasury MMFs. Total Weekly Liquid Assets was 65.6% (up 0.1% from the previous month) for Prime Institutional MMFs, and 59.3% (down 1.3% from the previous month) for Prime Retail funds. Average WLA was 76.9% for Govt MMFs and 98.2% for Treasury MMFs.
In the SEC's "Prime Holdings of Bank-Related Securities by Country table for November 2024," the largest entries included: Canada with $183.4 billion, the U.S. with $173.8B, Japan with $138.7 billion, France with $90.0 billion, the U.K. with $49.5B, Aust/NZ with $46.3B, the Netherlands with $44.6B, Germany with $34.8B and Switzerland with $3.7B. The gainers among the "Prime MMF Holdings by Country" included: Canada (up $21.6B), Germany (up $9.8B), Japan (up $7.7B), Netherlands (up $1.9B) and France (up $1.8B). Decreases were shown by: the U.S. (down $2.3B), Aust/NZ (down $1.2B), Switzerland (down $1.1B) and the U.K. (down $1.0B).
The SEC's "Prime Holdings of Bank-Related Securities by Region" table shows The Americas had $357.2 billion (up $19.3B), while Eurozone had $196.1B (up $10.9B). Asia Pacific subset had $216.6B (up $6.0B), while Europe (non-Eurozone) had $127.7B (up $3.4B from last month).
The "Prime MMF Aggregate Product Exposures" chart shows that of the $1.170 trillion in Prime MMF Portfolios as of November 30, $389.8B (33.3%) was in Government & Treasury securities (direct and repo) (down from $429.6B), $354.1B (30.3%) was in CDs and Time Deposits (up from $322.8B), $201.5B (17.2%) was in Financial Company CP (up from $200.2B), $147.8B (12.6%) was held in Non-Financial CP and Other securities (up from $133.5B), and $77.0B (6.7%) was in ABCP (down from $78.0B).
The SEC's "Government and Treasury Funds Bank Repo Counterparties by Country" table shows the U.S. with $420.7 billion, Canada with $195.8 billion, France with $222.9 billion, the U.K. with $107.0 billion, Germany with $18.8 billion, Japan with $140.0 billion and Other with $44.6 billion. All MMF Repo with the Federal Reserve was down $3.8 billion in November to $169.8 billion.
Finally, a "Percent of Securities with Greater than 179 Days to Maturity" table shows Prime Inst MMFs 8.5%, Prime Retail MMFs with 6.5%, Tax Exempt Inst MMFs with 0.0%, Tax Exempt Retail MMFs with 7.0%, Govt MMFs with 13.1% and Treasury MMFs with 11.7%.
