The Wall Street Journal writes "Firms Close European Money-Market Funds to New Investment". It says, "J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and BlackRock Inc. (BLK) are closing their European money-market funds to new investment after the European Central Bank slashed deposit rates to zero. These funds and others have struggled to provide returns to investors since central banks in Europe, the U.S. and Japan cut interest rates to near zero during the recent financial crisis. The ECB has held rates slightly above those of the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan, but the deposit-rate cut and a 25-basis-point reduction in its benchmark lending rate Thursday signaled that the days of European funds enjoying slightly higher yields may be ending. By closing the funds to new investment, the fund managers are protecting their current investors by not dividing the meager returns earned among more stakeholders." The WSJ piece adds, "Of the total $137 billion in euro-denominated money market funds, J.P. Morgan manages about $30 billion, BlackRock manages about $23 billion and Goldman Sachs manages about $13 billion, according to Peter Crane, president of Crane Data.... European funds were yielding 0.14% as of Thursday, according to Peter Crane, president of Crane Data. It would take about a month for the cut in ECB rates to bring down yields even further. By contrast, U.S. money-market funds are yielding, on average, 0.06%, Mr. Crane said."
