The April issue of Crane Data's flagship Money Fund Intelligence publication e-mailed this morning along with March 31, 2011, performance data. This month's edition features the articles, "Waivers Costing Billions; Expenses Under 0.25%," which discusses the impact of low yields on fund revenues; "Goldman Sachs Marks 30 Years In Money Funds," which interviews industry veterans Dave Fishman and James McCarthy; and, "Comeback or Flashback? Enhanced Cash Returns," which reviews the recent fund launches and filings in the space between money funds and ultra-short bond funds. Crane Data will also be releasing the final agenda and an updated sponsor list for its upcoming Money Fund Symposium conference in Philadelphia, June 22-24.
MFI's expense article says, "Charged expenses for money market mutual funds continue to come under pressure. During the quarter ended March 31, 2010, our Crane 100 Index and broader Crane Money Fund Average both dropped below one-quarter of a percent. The average taxable money fund is now charging 0.23% (according to both indexes), which on the current $2.6 trillion in assets tracked by Crane Data amounts to under $6 billion in annualized revenue. While the drop in fees and assets has been brutal, this brings the revenue stream for money funds only back down to levels seen in early 2006."
Our monthly fund family profile asks, "Q: How long has GSAM been involved in running money funds?" Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Fishman tells us, "Goldman Sachs has been in the money management business for 30 years: in fact, our global liquidity team celebrates the anniversary in May. Goldman Sachs was in the money market fund business even before it established its asset management business, so liquidity management is at the core of GSAM's enterprise, and remains one of its largest components." (Look for more article excerpts on www.cranedata.com in coming weeks.)
Finally, the April issue discusses "enhanced cash." We write, "While momentum has been slow building, especially given the ultra-low yield environment, a couple new entrants into the market for 'enhanced cash' or ultra-, ultra-short bond funds, may bring some interest to the sector." We briefly look at existing offerings from Fidelity, Dreyfus and JPMorgan, and a new filing from Oppenheimer Funds.
Each month, Crane Data publishes the 30-page Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which contains articles, news, indexes, rankings and performance statistics on money market mutual funds and "cash" investments. We also publish the "complement" Money Fund Intelligence XLS, which has additional data and rankings; Crane Index, a subset with indexes and averages; and we update Money Fund Wisdom, our online database query system, with all of our monthly data and products. Note that our Money Fund Portfolio Holdings collection is published on the 10th business day, so look for this next Friday.
