Investment News writes "Money funds may prove a tough sell for clients of SSgA stable-value funds", which says, "State Street Global Advisors' decision to urge its defined-contribution clients to use money market instruments as their 'safe' option now that the firm has closed its stable-value business could be a hard sell with prevailing money market returns near zero. Competitors predict a flurry of requests for proposals from SSgA's clients, which had more than $8 billion in stable value with the firm as of March 31.... SSgA is recommending that clients 'immunize their accounts immediately and convert to money market instruments in order to preserve current favorable market value,' Ms. Roberts wrote, adding that they also can choose to transfer assets to another stable-value manager.... In sister publication Pensions & Investments' latest annual money manager survey, SSgA was the 13th-largest stable-value manager, with $9.9 billion in assets." The piece adds, "The broader story is a Darwinian one: Stable-value managers that were investing in riskier assets in search of higher returns three or four years ago are getting shorter shrift now from wrap providers, consultants and clients than those managers focused more on capital preservation, he said."
