Crane Data publishes the January issue of its Money Fund Intelligence newsletter along with its year-end performance data this morning. The latest edition features the articles: "Survey on PWG, Outlook; Low Rates Biggest Issue," which reviews the results of our recent "Money Fund Intelligence Subscriber Survey: Regulatory Reforms and the 2011 Outlook; "Q&A With Federated CEO Chris Donahue," which discusses money funds with one of the highest profile names in the space; and, "Top MMFs of '10 Win 2nd Annual MFI Awards," which names the winners of 1-year, 5-year and 10-year top-performance spots in six different categories. We also review the top Crane Data News stories of 2010. We'll be updating our performance and rankings products today, and our new Portfolio Holdings product will be released around the 18th of this month.
Our lead story says, "With the Request for Comment period coming to a close this Monday, Crane Data again recently surveyed MFI subscribers and readers of www.cranedata.com about the "Report of the President's Working Group: Money Market Fund Reform Options" and about major issues facing money market funds. The responses indicate that ultra-low interest rates continue to surpass regulatory changes as the most important issue facing money funds (albeit barely). Subscribers also unsurprisingly oppose and believe that a floating NAV would be the most harmful option discussed in the PWG report.
The first survey question asks, "Which of the options do you think is the best alternative for money market mutual fund regulation? Floating net asset values (8%), Private emergency liquidity facilities for MMFs (50%), Mandatory redemptions in kind (4%), Insurance for MMFs (15%), A two-tier system of MMFs with enhanced protection for stable NAV funds (27%), A two-tier system of MMFs with stable NAV MMFs reserved for retail investors (4%), Regulating stable NAV MMFs as special purpose banks (4%), Enhanced constraints on unregulated MMF substitutes (23%), Other, please specify (8%)."
This month, `Money Fund Intelligence also interviews Chris Donahue, President & CEO of Federated Investors, Inc. Federated is one of the largest and oldest managers of money market funds, and Donahue has been working in the business virtually since its inception almost four decades ago. We discuss the challenges confronting money funds and the outlook for funds in the coming year. (Look for excerpts of this interview on www.cranedata.com next week.)
We again recognize some of the top-performing money funds of the past year and of the past decade with our second annual Money Fund Intelligence Awards. The winners are the No. 1-ranked funds based on 1-year, 5-year and 10-year returns, through Dec. 31, 2010, in a number of categories -- Prime Institutional, Government Institutional, Treasury Institutional, Prime Individual, Government Individual, and Treasury Individual. The top-performing fund overall (again) in 2010 and among Prime Institutional funds was Touchstone Institutional Money Market Fund (TINXX) with a return of 0.29%.
Finally, we look forward to seeing many of our newer readers at next week's Crane's Money Fund University at The Westin Jersey City Newport. The "basic training" educational event gets started on Thursday morning (1/13). Visit www.moneyfunduniversity.com for details on this, and visit www.moneyfundsymposium.com for information on our main conference event, which will be held June 22-24 in Philadelphia.
