The June issue of Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence was sent out to subscribers on Friday morning. The latest edition of our flagship monthly newsletter features the articles: SEC Intensely Focused on MF Reform; Very Near Term?," which reviews SEC Chair Mary Jo Whites latest comments on money market reform; "Stability, Fiduciary Priorities at BlackRock; Eye to Future," which interviews BlackRock's Rich Hoerner and Tom Callahan; and, "ICI Releases 2014 Investment Co. Fact Book," which reviews a number annual MMF facts, stats, and trends. We also updated our Money Fund Wisdom database query system with May 31, 2014, performance statistics and rankings late Thursday night, and sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Friday a.m. (MFI, MFI XLS and our Crane Index products are available to subscribers at our Content center.) Our May 31 Money Fund Portfolio Holdings data are scheduled to go out on Tuesday, June 10.
The latest MFI newsletter's lead article comments, "Money market providers and investors continue to await the SEC's final Money Market Fund Reform regulations, but guesses as to when we might see the new rules range from next week to not at all. Most now seem to expect the regs between the end of June and the end of October though, with the heaviest betting now being late July or August. The speculative consensus still also seems to lean toward a combination of floating NAV for Inst MMFs and "gates & fees" for all prime MMFs. But of course, nobody really knows and many of the even minor details could matter greatly."
The article explains, "The most recent official word on the matter was from SEC Chair Mary Jo White, who spoke at the ICI's annual meeting on May 22. White didn't give any indication about what they might look like, but she did reiterate her comments from earlier this year that the rules would arrive in the "very near term." She told the ICI, "[T]he Commissioners ... and the Staff are intensely focused on it [MMF Reform] as we speak, completing the very important rulemaking. I expect it will be completed in the very near term. I won't say what the very near term is, but it's front and center."
Our MFI "profile" says, "This month, we sat down with Rich Hoerner, head of global cash management, and Tom Callahan, deputy head of global cash management, at BlackRock, the 3rd largest manager of money funds globally with approximately $263 billion (3/31/14). They talked about new products, the regulatory environment, and some emerging trends that could reshape the money fund landscape. Our discussion follows."
The piece continues, "MFI: Tell us about your background? Hoerner: I started with PNC in 1987 and joined the money market business, which was then known as Provident Institutional Management Corp., in 1992. In the mid-1990s, PNC bought BlackRock.... I grew up on the portfolio side of the money fund business before taking over as co-head of the cash business at BlackRock about 5 years ago. Callahan: I've been with BlackRock just 8 months. I joined in September of last year from the NYSE where I had been the CEO of their Liffe U.S. futures exchange. Prior to that, I ran Merrill Lynch's money market business for a time.... So I have been in and around the short end of the market for most of my career."
It adds, "Hoerner: The cash business at BlackRock has a long history. TempFund [which celebrated its 40th birthday late last year] was launched in October 1973 by Provident National Bank.... In 1982, Pittsburgh National Bank and Provident National Bank merged to form PNC. Then in 1995, PNC purchased BlackRock, [while BlackRock continued to be managed independently]. In 2006, BlackRock purchased Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.... In December of 2009, BlackRock bought Barclays Global Investors from Barclays Bank.... They also had a money fund business and a sizable securities lending business." (Watch for more excerpts of this interview later this month, or write us to request the full article.)
The June MFI article on ICI Releases 2014 Investment Co. Fact Book explains, "The ICI released its "2014 Investment Company Fact Book" last month at the Institute's annual meeting in Washington. As usual, the "Fact Book" is loaded with useful statistics on money market mutual funds. Under the section, "Demand for Money Market Funds (on page 45)," the Fact Book says, "In 2013, money market funds received a modest $15 billion -- the first annual inflow since 2008. Demand for money market funds was not uniform throughout 2013, however. Various factors, including tax events, rising long term interest rates, and a U.S. debt ceiling standoff, influenced money market fund flows during 2013."
Crane Data's June MFI with May 31, 2014, data shows total assets increasing by $11.9 billion (after falling by $59.5 billion last month and $25.9 billion in March) to $2.500 trillion (1,255 funds, up from 1,238 last month). Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield and 30-Day Yield remained at a record low 0.01% while our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) yielded 0.02% (7-day and 30-day). On a Gross Yield Basis (before expenses were taken out), funds averaged 0.13% (Crane MFA, unchanged) and 0.16% (Crane 100) on an annualized basis for both the 7-day and 30-day yield averages. (Charged Expenses averaged 0.12% and 0.14% for the two main taxable averages.) The average WAM for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 were 41 and 43 days, respectively, down one and two days, respectively, from the prior month. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)
