Below, we reprint the article, "Top Money Funds of 2017; 9th Annual MFI Awards," from the January edition of our Money Fund Intelligence.... In this issue, we recognize the top-performing money funds, ranked by total returns, for calendar year 2017, as well as the top funds for the past 5-year and 10-year periods. We present the funds below with our annual Money Fund Intelligence Awards. These are given to the No. 1-ranked funds based on 1-year, 5-year and 10-year returns, through Dec. 31, 2017, 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 Prime Institutional funds were Morgan Stanley Inst Liq MMP Inst (MPUXX) and UBS Select Prime Money Mkt Pref (SPPXX), which both returned 1.14%. (BlackRock Cash Inst MMF SL, BRC01, would have been No. 1, but this fund is private, only available to internal securities lending clients.) Among Prime Retail funds (and funds overall), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port Inst (FNSXX) had the best return in 2017 (1.17%).
The Top-Performing Government Institutional funds in 2017 were Fidelity Series Govt Money Market Fund (FGNXX) and UBS Liquid Assets Govt Fund (UBS02), which returned 0.86%. TIAA CREF MMkt Fund Advisor (TMHXX) and Vanguard Federal Money Mkt Fund (VMFXX) tied for the Top Government Retail fund spot over a 1-year period with returns of 0.81%.
Deutsche Treasury Port Cap (ICGXX) ranked No. 1 in the Treasury Institutional class with a return of 0.79%. (BlackRock Cash Treas MMF SL, BRC03, was No. 1 including "restricted" funds with a return of 0.82%.) Federated Trust for US Treas Obl IS <f:ttoxx>`_(TTOXX) was again `No. 1 among Treasury Retail funds, returning 0.73%.
Top Funds over Past Five Years. For the 5-year period through Dec. 31, 2017, Deutsche Variable NAV MM Cap (VNVXX) took top honors for the best performing Prime Institutional money fund with returns of 0.50%. Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port Inst (FNSXX) ranked No. 1 among Prime Retail with an annualized return of 0.41%.
Oppenheimer Inst Govt MM E (IOEXX) ranked No. 1 among Govt Institutional funds with a return of 0.31%, while Vanguard Federal Money Mkt Fund (VMFXX) ranked No. 1 among Govt Retail funds over the past 5 years with a return of 0.24%. BlackRock Cash Treas MMF SL (BRC03) ranked No. 1 in 5-year performance among Treasury Inst money funds with a return of 0.23% (Vanguard Treasury Money Market, VUSXX, ranked first among unrestricted funds at 0.22%.) Federated Trust for US Treas Obl IS (TTOXX) ranked No. 1 among Treasury Retail funds with a return of 0.19%.
Best Money Funds of the Decade. The highest-performers of the past 10 years include: Western Asset Inst Liquid Res Inst (CILXX), which returned 0.62% (No. 1 among Prime Inst MMFs); Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port Inst (FNSXX), which returned 0.66% (best among Prime Retail); Oppenheimer Inst Govt MM E (IOEXX), which returned 0.59%, (No. 1 among Govt Inst funds); Fidelity Govt Cash Reserves (FDRXX) and Vanguard Federal Money Mkt Fund (VMFXX), ranked No. 1 among Govt Retail funds (0.42% and 0.41%, respectively). (We include VMFXX because Fidelity Govt Cash Reserves switched from a Prime to a Govt fund in late 2016.)
Invesco Treas Obligations Institutional (TSPXX) and Vanguard Treasury Money Market (VUSXX) both returned the most among Treasury Inst funds over the past 10 years at 0.35%; and, Invesco Treas Obligations Private (TXPXX) ranked No. 1 among Treasury Retail MMFs at 0.28%.
Top Tax‐Exempt Funds. We're also giving out awards for the best-performing Tax‐Exempt money funds. Federated Municipal Obligs WS (MOFXX) ranked No. 1 for the 1-year period ended Dec. 31, 2017, with a return of 0.83%. Over the last 5 years, Federated Municipal Obligs WS (MOFXX) was also the top performer with a return of 0.27%. BMO Tax Free MMF Premier (MFIXX) was the top-ranked fund for the 10-year period with a return of 0.57%.
See the MFI Award Winner listings in our January MFI, and see our latest Money Fund Intelligence XLS for more detailed rankings. The tables on page 6 of MFI show the No. 1 ranked money fund for each category based on 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year annualized total returns.
