Money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) were up 1 bp at 3.47% on average during the week ended Friday, April 17 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after decreasing 1 bp the week prior. Fund yields haven't been below 3.5% since November 2022, and they are down from a recent high of 5.20% in November 2023. They should remain flat in coming days (and weeks) since the Fed left short-term rates unchanged five weeks ago. Yields were 3.58% on 12/31/25, 3.78% on 11/30, 3.90% on 10/31, 3.94% on 9/30, 4.11% on 8/31, 4.12% on 7/31, 4.13% on 6/30, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23.
The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 682), shows a 7-day yield of 3.37%, up 2 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were up 2 bps at 3.59% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were up 2 bps at 3.46%. Treasury Inst MFs were up 1 bp at 3.43%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.20%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.18% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.38%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 54 bps to 2.75%.
Money market mutual fund assets have fallen since hitting a record high of $8.280 trillion on March 18, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets have fallen $135.8 billion in the week through Friday, and they've decreased by $128.8 billion in April month-to-date (through 4/17). MMF assets decreased by $49.3 billion in March, increased by $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose by $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. But MMFs decreased $24.4 billion last April. Weighted average maturities were at 43 days for the Crane MFA and 44 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index.
According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (4/17), just 142 money funds (out of 792 total) yield under 3.0% with $143.0 billion in assets, or 1.8%, while the vast majority (650) of funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($7.920 trillion, or 98.2%). No funds yield over 4.0%. Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.30%, after falling 1 basis point sixteen weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of April 17, shows no changes over the past week. Four of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Schwab.
In other news, State Street reported its Q1'26 earnings last week, and the earnings call contained some discussions of deposits and tokenization (but no AI and cash mentions like many of the other calls). CEO Ronald O'Hanley comments, "In digital, we are focused on building the market infrastructure clients need to bridge seamlessly between traditional and digital finance. Following the recent launch of our digital asset platform, we are executing against a clear and comprehensive product road map that includes tokenization of assets, funds and cash for institutional investors. These capabilities are designed to drive greater efficiency, enhance liquidity and support new avenues of growth for markets, our clients, and for State Street."
He continues, "We are well advanced with clients to support their launch of tokenized fund strategies this year. Furthermore, State Street is deeply engaged in a number of digital asset-related industry initiatives, including DTCC's tokenization efforts as well as Fnality's work to create an ecosystem of central bank connected blockchain-based payment systems. These initiatives are key to the development of digital markets and consistent with our track record as a critical market infrastructure provider and standard setter."
O'Hanley adds, "Our scaled franchises within Investment Management also create a competitive advantage and will enable us to capitalize on several important global trends, including the shift from savings to investment, the move globally towards funded retirement systems, the expansion of digital assets and the continued democratization of investing. For example, in digital, we are preparing to launch the State Street Galaxy Onchain Liquidity Sweep Fund, a tokenized private liquidity fund designed to support 24/7 onchain liquidity for institutional investors."
CFO John Woods tells us, "Assets under management increased 20% year-over-year to $5.6 trillion, reflecting higher period end market levels and continued client inflows. Net inflows totaled $49 billion for the quarter, led by strength across index strategies and solutions, including ETFs and fixed income, as well as our cash franchise."
During the Q&A session, Woods talks about deposits, saying, "I think I mentioned the level of deposits, I'd anchor to that $250 billion to $260 billion range. When it comes to mix, we originally talked about around 10% of noninterest bearing. I think that's still a good anchor maybe over time. But I mean, I think in '26, it appears that we've got a higher ... noninterest-bearing opportunity.... When it comes to deposit drivers, ... there are external drivers, internal drivers. The internal drivers that we control are continuing to grow our platform and just serving our clients ... that's really where we're sourcing those deposits.... The external things to keep an eye on, deposits tend to rise when money supply is growing."
Asked about "tokenization and the digital asset platform," O’Hanley responds, "If you think about some of the use cases, they're already very real in terms of the tokenization of assets. That's in the end net new opportunity for us. And ... we've talked to you before in other venues about tokenized money market funds. I mean, that's a real use case and it's beneficial to the market. It's beneficial to liquidity and will result in more revenues for us. The whole on-ramp, off-ramp bridge from 'traditional' finance to digital finance is also a real opportunity. I mean, what I'm -- the way to think about what's going on here, is there's lots of new railroads being manufactured and being laid."
Finally, he comments, "There's not yet the interchange to those. And that's a very real thing. And when you think about everything, ... whether it's the stablecoin providers ... or some of the other digital platforms ... the volumes are growing fast, but ... off a very small base. And part of the reason for that is the on-ramps and off-ramps really are underdeveloped at this point. Being part of that on-ramp, off-ramp and providing that infrastructure is a second source of new revenues, so we see it as both going forward."
