Yields Higher in Latest Week
Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) rose 2 bps to 4.14% on average during the week ended Friday, May 2 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 1 bp the previ-ous two weeks. Fund yields should remain relatively flat until the Fed moves rates again. They've de-clined by 92 bps since the Fed first cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18, 2024, and they've declined by 49 bps since the Fed cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7. Yields were 4.14% on 3/31/25, 4.16% on 2/28/25, 4.19% on 1/31/25, 4.28% on average on 12/31/24, 4.45% on 11/30/24, 4.65% on 10/31, 4.75% on 9/30, 5.10% on 8/31, 5.13% on 7/31 and 6/28, 5.14% on 3/31 and 5.20% on 12/31/23. The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 684), shows a 7-day yield of 4.03%, up one bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were unchanged at 4.26% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were up 2 bps to 4.14%. Treasury Inst MFs were up 1 bp at 4.08%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.84%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.85%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.04%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 64 bps to 2.65%. Assets of money market funds rose by $24.1 billion last week to $7.313 trillion, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. For the month of May (MTD), MMF assets have increased by $13.3 billion, after decreasing $24.4 billion in April, increasing by $2.8 billion in March, $94.2 billion in Febru-ary, $52.8 billion in January, $110.9 billion in December, $200.5 billion in November, $97.5 billion in October and $149.8 billion in September. Weighted average maturities were at 35 days for the Crane MFA and 35 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (5/2), 104 money funds (out of 796 total) yield under 3.0% with $120.5 billion in assets, or 1.6%; 246 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($1.329 trillion, or 18.2%), 446 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($5.863 trillion, or 80.2%) and following the recent rate cut there continue to be zero funds yielding 5.0% or more. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.41%. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of May 2, shows no changes over the past week. Three of the 10 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.
