Below, we reprint the article, "Top Money Funds of 2016; 8th Annual MFI Awards," from the January edition of our Money Fund Intelligence.... In this issue, we recognizes the top‐performing money funds, ranked by total returns, for calendar year 2016, as well as the top ranked funds for the past 5‐year and 10‐year periods. We present the funds below with our annual Money Fund Intelligence Awards. These include the No. 1‐ranked funds based on 1‐year, 5‐year and 10‐year returns, through Dec. 31, 2016, in each of our major fund categories -- Prime Institutional, Government Institutional, Treasury Institutional, Prime Retail, Government Retail, Treasury Retail and Tax‐Exempt. (Note: We've posted the latest versions of our "Funds" and "Portfolio Holdings" data files from the SEC's Form N-MFP data series here. Our normal January Money Fund Portfolio Holdings will also be released later today.)
The Top-Performing Taxable fund overall in 2016 and top among Prime Institutional funds was Deutsche Variable NAV MM Cap (VNVXX), which returned 0.68%. The Top Prime Inst fund over $100 million (and unrestricted) was Western Asset Inst Liquid Res Inst (CILXX), which returned 0.55%. Among Prime Retail funds, Vanguard Prime MMF Adm (VMRXX) had the best returns in 2016 (0.55%).
The Top‐Performing Government Institutional fund in 2016 was Oppenheimer Inst Govt MM E (IOEXX), which returned 0.40%. Vanguard Federal Money Mkt Fund (VMFXX) was the Top Government Retail fund over a 1‐year period with a return of 0.30%. BlackRock Cash Treas MMF SL (BRC03) ranked No. 1 in the Treasury Institutional class with a return of 0.30%. Western Asset Inst US Treas Obl MMF Inst (LUIXX) was the top-performing unrestricted fund with a return of 0.28%. Federated Trust for US Treas Obl IS (TTOXX) was No. 1 among Treasury Retail funds, returning 0.21%.
Top Funds over Past Five Years. For the 5-year period through Dec. 31, 2016, Deutsche Variable NAV MM Cap (VNVXX) took top honors for the best performing Prime Institutional money fund with returns of 0.33%. (BlackRock Cash Inst MMF Inst was No. 2.) Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port Inst (FNSXX) ranked No. 1 among Prime Retail with an annualized return of 0.22%.
Oppenheimer Inst Govt MM E (IOEXX) ranked No. 1 among Govt Institutional funds with a return of 0.19%, while Vanguard Federal Money Mkt Fund (VMFXX) ranked No. 1 among Govt Retail funds over the past 5 years with a return of 0.08%. BlackRock Cash Treas MMF SL (BRC03) ranked No. 1 in 5‐year performance among Treasury Inst money funds with a return of 0.08% (Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Treas Inst ranked first among unrestricted funds at 0.07%), and Invesco Treas Obligations Reserve (AIM45) ranked No. 1 among Treasury Retail funds with a return of 0.07%.
Best Money Funds of the Decade. The highest‐performers of the past 10 years include: BlackRock Cash Inst MMF Inst (BGIXX), which returned 1.05% (No. 1 among Prime Inst MMFs); Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port Inst (FNSXX), which returned 1.06% (best among Prime Retail); Oppenheimer Inst Govt MM L (IOLXX), which returned 1.04%, (No. 1 among Govt Inst funds); and Fidelity MMT: Retire Govt MMP II (FRTXX), which ranked No. 1 among Govt Retail funds (0.87%). Invesco Treas Obligations Institutional (TSPXX) and Vanguard Treasury Money Market (VUSXX) returned the most among Treasury Inst funds over the past 10 years at 0.77%; and, Invesco Treas Obligations Private (TXPXX) ranked No. 1 among Treasury Retail MMFs at 0.70%.
Top Tax‐Exempt Funds. We're also giving out awards for the best‐performing Tax‐Exempt money funds. Dreyfus Municipal Cash Mg Pls Ins (DIMXX) ranked No. 1 for the 1‐year period ended Dec. 31, 2016, with a return of 0.55%. Over the last 5 years, BMO Tax Free MMF Premier (MFIXX) was the top performer with a return of 0.15%. BMO Tax Free MMF Premier also was the top‐ranked fund for the 10‐year period with a return of 0.85%.
See the MFI Award Winner listings in `MFI, and see our latest Money Fund Intelligence XLS for more detailed rankings. Winners will receive a letter and certificate stating their No. 1 ranking, the number of funds in their category, and the criteria used. The tables in MFI below show the No. 1 ranked money fund for each category based on 1‐year, 5‐year, and 10‐year annualized total returns.
