Crane Data Subscribers
More Stories on Enhanced Cash and Ultra-Short Bond Fund Troubles. Today, two more stories describing woes with money fund competitors appeared -- Bloomberg writes "Federated Investors Bails Out Cash Fund After Losses" and Kiplinger's writes "Ultra-Short: Still Ultra-Safe?". The Bloomberg piece describes two bailouts and one buck-breaking among the handful of 3c-7 "enhanced cash" funds, "private partnership[s] open only to accredited investors". Kiplinger's discusses "Two bond funds designed to beat money-market funds with little extra risk and sponsored by two of the industry's titans are sitting on stiff year-to-date losses, leaving shareholders shocked," saying that Fidelity Ultra-Short Bond Fund (FUSFX) has lost 4.3% and SSgA Yield Plus has lost 8.1% year-to-date. "[T]he damage to the Fidelity and SSga funds ... calls into question whether any ultra-short bond fund is a safe alternative to a money-market fund.... If you want total safety, you're better off going with a money fund," says Kiplinger's.
