Crane Data Subscribers
Stock Funds Get Liquid, Driving Money Fund Totals Higher in November. The Investment Company Institute, the trade group for the mutual fund industry, released its "Trends in Mutual Fund Investing: November 2007" statistics today. They show that stock funds showed rare outflows of $338 billion, or almost 5%, in November, while money market funds showed inflows of $108.9 billion, or 3.7%. Year-to-date, money funds have increased by an amazing $720 billion, or 30.6%, through 11/30. Liquid assets of stock funds, much of which is invested in money market funds, jumped to 4.2% from 3.9%. The percentage of "cash" in stock funds has risen steadily since hitting an all-time record low of 3.6% in September. Note too ICI's recent "Media Advisory: Reporting on Money Market Mutual Funds, which offers a "brief description of the key differences between traditional money market mutual funds and other types of cash-management vehicles". ICI says, "To avoid misleading or confusing readers, viewers or listeners, it is important for media reports to be clear about the distinctions between these investment vehicles. ICI's weekly money fund asset series showed a decline of $3.82 billion to $3.111 trillion in the week ended Wednesday.
