Money market mutual fund assets fell by $38.91 billion to $3.476 trillion in the week ended June 18, says the ICI's latest report. Tightness in the Fed funds effective and repo rates drew institutional cash from money funds, driven in part by the June 16 quarterly corporate tax payment date. Institutional assets declined by $38.18 billion to $2.255 trillion, while retail assets declined by $730 million to $1.221 trillion. ICI's weekly series tracks 1,172 institutional funds and 838 retail funds for a total of 2,010 money funds.
General purpose ("prime") institutional funds declined by $23.2 billion in the latest week to $1.361 trillion. Over 13 weeks, they've increased by $73.3 billion, or 5.7%. Government institutional funds declined by $15.9 billion to $692.1 billion, while tax exempt institutional funds rose by $891 million to $201.9 billion. Over 13 weeks, Govt Inst funds have declined by $46.7 billion, or 6.3%, as the flight to Treasuries unwound. ICI covers 530 prime institutional funds, 384 government institutional funds, and 258 tax exempt institutional funds.
General purpose retail funds declined by $81 million to $717.7 billion. Over 13 weeks, they've declined by $39.1 billion, or 5.2%. Government retail funds rose by $361 million to $199.4 billion, while tax exempt retail funds declined by $1.01 billion to $304.1 billion. ICI tracks 344 general purpose retail funds, 196 government retail funds (including Treasury funds), and 298 tax exempt retail funds.
Assets should rebound in the coming week. Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily shows assets rising $13.3 billion on Wednesday, as repo rates and expectations of an imminent Fed funds tightening decline. Year-to-date, total money fund assets have increased by $331.2 billion, or 10.5%, and over 52 weeks assets have increased by $942 billion, or 37.2%.
