The October issue of our Bond Fund Intelligence, which was sent to subscribers Wednesday a.m., features the stories, "Worldwide BF Assets Jump to $15.2 Trillion, Led by US, China," which reviews the latest global bond fund statistics from ICI; and "Lupini, Rustam Talk European Ultra-Shorts at EMFS Dublin," which highlights a session from our 11th annual European Money Fund Symposium held in Dublin, Ireland. BFI also recaps the latest Bond Fund News and includes our Crane BFI Indexes, which show that bond fund returns rose again in September while yields fell. We excerpt from the new issue below. (Contact us if you'd like to see our latest Bond Fund Intelligence and BFI XLS spreadsheet, or our Bond Fund Portfolio Holdings data.)
BFI's lead article states, "Bond fund assets worldwide increased in the latest quarter to $15.173 trillion, led higher by the U.S., China, Luxembourg and Ireland. We review the ICI's 'Worldwide Regulated Open-End Fund Assets and Flows, Second Quarter 2025' release and statistics below."
It continues, "ICI's report says, 'Worldwide regulated open-end fund assets, excluding assets in funds of funds, increased 8.5% to $80.85 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2025.... The Investment Company Institute compiles worldwide regulated open-end fund statistics on behalf of the International Investment Funds Association (IIFA).'"
Our "Lupini, Rustam" article states, "Crane Data recently hosted its 11th annual European Money Fund Symposium in Dublin, Ireland, which featured near-record attendance (195) and two days of discussions on offshore money funds denominated in USD, EUR and GBP. The event also included the session, 'Ultra-Short Bond Funds, ETF MMFs & Alt-Cash,' featuring Valerio Lupini of Fitch Ratings and Rustam Muradov of J.P. Morgan Asset Management."
It continues, "Lupini says, 'With EU money market funds, short-term and standard money market funds are governed by regulations, so they have specific maturity, liquidity, and credit quality requirements. On the other side, short-term bond funds are not regulated under the money market fund framework, which gives them greater flexibility.'"
Our first News brief, "Returns Jump, Yields Drop Again in Sept.," says, "Bond fund returns were higher in September after also jumping in August. Our BFI Total Index rose 1.01% over 1-month and rose 3.96% over 12 months. (Money funds rose 4.31% over 1-year as measured by our Crane 100 Index.) The BFI 100 increased 0.92% in Sept. and rose 4.13% over 12 mos. Our BFI Conservative Ultra-Short Index was up 0.47% over 1-month and 4.66% for 1-year; Ultra-Shorts rose 0.37% and 4.84%. Short-Term gained 0.33% and 4.86%, and Intm-Term jumped 0.96% in Sept. and rose 3.59% over 12 mos. BFI's Long-Term Index was up 1.38% and up 2.97%. High Yield returned 0.76% in Sept. and 6.45% over 12 months."
A second News brief, "SSIM to Launch Ultra-Short T-Bill ETF," says, "A press release, 'State Street Investment Management Enhances Its Low-Cost State Street SPDR Portfolio ETF Suite,' comments, 'State Street Investment Management today announced the expansion of its low-cost State Street SPDR Portfolio ETF Suite with the launch of the State Street SPDR Portfolio Ultra Short T-Bill ETF (SPTU). The new fund offers investors access to the shorter end of the yield curve by providing exposure to US Treasury bills that have a remaining maturity greater than or equal to 1 month and less than 12 months. Priced at just five basis points, SPTU is one of the lowest-cost ETFs in the ultra-short Treasury bond fund category.'"
Another brief, "Morningstar: 'US Fund Flows: Investors Pour $77 Billion into Funds in August, But Not Where You'd Expect,' writes, 'US investors kept leaning away from risk in August 2025 as they put $77 billion to work in mainly fixed-income open-end funds and ETFs. Taxable-bond funds led, with their largest inflows since April 2021.... Investors also continued to move into cash.... In August, taxable-bond funds experienced their largest monthly inflow since April 2021. Conservative categories like intermediate core bond and ultrashort bond led the way, each accruing over $10 billion in assets for the month. Corporate-bond funds experienced their largest monthly inflow since June 2020.'"
A BFI sidebar, "Barron's on Multisector BFs," says, "A Barron's article, ‘5 Multisector Bond Funds for Diversification and Income,' says, 'It's been a tricky time for bond investors this year. Credit spreads are tight in sectors such as investment-grade credit and high-yield bonds, a testament to lofty valuations. The Federal Reserve is expected to continue cutting interest rates.... That's why it makes sense for income investors to spread their bets across a variety of bond categories as a way to reduce risk. Multisector bond funds are one way to do that.'"
Finally, another sidebar, "New Vanguard High-Yield ETF," notes, "A press release, 'Vanguard Launches Its First Actively Managed High-Yield Bond ETF,' explains, 'Vanguard ... launched Vanguard High-Yield Active ETF (VGHY), an active fixed income ETF managed by Vanguard Fixed Income Group.'"
