Industry newsletter Fund Action writes "Money funds, passives boost August flows," which says, "Taxable money market funds took in $13.4bn last month, up from July's $12.7bn intake, according to data from Thomson Reuters Lipper. In the first quarter of 2018, money market funds lost $8.9bn, and in the second, the category shed $12.8bn. Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust Investments and State Street saw net redemptions in this category. The interest in money market funds comes at a time when investors are erring on the side of caution amid geopolitical tensions between the US and China and the Turkish lira crisis." They quote Tom Roseen of Thompson Reuters Lipper, "These little things are all adding up to be bigger things, and I think investors have been more conservative in their approach." The piece also says, "Last month, retail money funds reeled in the vast majority of money flows -- $13bn, up from $2.65bn in July, Lipper data shows." Fund Action quotes our Peter Crane, "Retail is back and that certainly explains the Vanguard, the Fidelity, the Federated pieces.... It's clear that retail investors and particularly high net-worth brokerage investors are starting to move money away from lower-yielding sweep accounts and bank deposits into the money market funds." The article adds, "The money market sweep account for Vanguard's brokerage platform -- the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX) -- reeled in $2.27bn in assets last month, according to Lipper. '`Demand is largely being driven by retail investors that recognize they can once again earn a respectable yield on cash,' a Vanguard spokesperson explained."