Wilmington MMF Reform Overview
Wilmington Trust issued a basic, "US Money Market Fund Reform Overview." It says, "The reforms change the way MMFs operate in an attempt to reduce their susceptibility to heavy redemptions during times of stress, as well as increase the transparency of MMF risk, without negating the benefits currently afforded by MMFs. Key structural changes to MMFs include: New distinctions between "retail" and "institutional" prime and tax-exempt MMFs, which will limit who can invest in these types of MMFs; Imposition of floating net asset value (NAV) share pricing on institutional prime and institutional tax-exempt MMFs, which will require share prices of these fund types to increase or decrease along with the underlying value of the fund's assets, or "float," as opposed to maintaining a stable $1.00 per share price; New rules for liquidity fees and redemption gates, which may impact an investor's ability to redeem shares, particularly in prime and tax-exempt MMFs." In other news, a press release entitled, "Fitch Assigns New Rating to First American Government Obligations Fund," says, "Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'AAAmmf' rating to First American Government Obligations Fund, a registered 2a-7 money market fund managed by U.S. Bancorp Asset Management, Inc. The 'AAAmmf' rating assignment reflects: The fund's overall credit quality and diversification; Low exposure to interest rate and spread risks; Holdings of daily and weekly liquid assets consistent with shareholder profile and concentration; Maturity profile consistent with Fitch's 'AAAmmf' rating criteria; The capabilities and resources of U.S. Bancorp Asset Management, Inc. The Fund seeks to maintain a diversified, high credit quality portfolio consistent with Fitch's criteria for 'AAAmmf' rated MMFs, by investing exclusively in first-tier rated securities with limited exposure to individual issuers."
