The March 2009 issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter features the articles "Unprecedented Change Hitting Money Markets," "U.S.-Style Money Funds Weathering Global Storm," and our monthly fund profile, "USAA's Money Markets Accomplishing Mission." The latest issue also contains a table of "Offshore Money Fund Market Share Rankings," a story on the "High-Cost of Deposit Insurance Pushing Cash to Money Market Funds," and a sidebar on the ICI's recent regulatory reform white paper entitled, "ICI Strikes Back, Defends Money Funds."
MFI's lead story says, "While the odds for a complete overhaul of the structure of money market mutual funds appear to be diminishing, the industry still finds itself in the midst of unprecedented change. Funds advisors are being buffeted by liquidations, mergers, ultra-low yields, personnel cutbacks, increased scrutiny, and a still dangerous credit environment. At least nobody is calling money funds boring anymore." It adds, "Fortunately too for funds, the likelihood of major surgery appears to be waning as regulators and legislators realize the importance of money market funds to the broader economy."
On the global money fund marketplace, MFI says, "Recent statistics and reports show that U.S.-style money market mutual funds are faring better than their variable NAV and less diversified counterparts worldwide. The U.S. marketplace, which dominates the global money fund totals, continued to gain assets and market share over the past 18 months.... The 'offshore' money market mutual fund centers of Dublin and Luxembourg, which have adopted American-style funds and 'AAA' ratings have seen their markets grow dramatically over the past decade, but they've been threatened by contagion from their less-disciplined Europan 'money fund' counterparts." MFI includes a ranking of the largest offshore managers from the new Money Fund Intelligence International.
Finally, look for excerpts from our interview with USAA Money Market Fund portfolio manager Anthony Era in the coming days, or see the current issue for the full profile. Money Fund Intelligence includes news, statistics, indexes, and information on over 1,300 money market mutual funds, as well as our benchmark Crane Indexes. Annual subscriptions to MFI are $500 and include online access to archived issues and additional web resources. Bulk discounts are available. Write info@cranedata.us or call 1-508-439-4419 to subscribe, for more details, or to request a sample issue.
