Money Fund Yields Flat Again
Money market fund yields continue to bottom out just above zero; our flagship Crane 100 was flat again on the last week at 0.04%. The Crane 100 Money Fund Index fell below the 1.0% level in mid-March and below the 0.5% level in late March. It is down from 1.46% at the start of the year and down from 2.23% at the beginning of 2019. Just over two-thirds all money funds and over a third of MMF assets have since landed on the zero yield floor, though many continue to show some yield. According to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily, as of Friday, 9/18, 591 funds (out of 846 total) yield 0.00% or 0.01% with assets of $2.077 trillion, or 43.5% of the total. There are 196 funds yielding between 0.02% and 0.10%, totaling $2.036 trillion, or 42.6% of assets; 55 funds yielded between 0.11% and 0.25% with $578.6 billion, or 12.1% of assets; only 3 funds yielded between 0.26% and 0.50% with $82.7 billion in assets. No funds yield over 0.37%. The Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 667), shows a 7-day yield of 0.03%, unchanged in the week through Friday, 9/18. The Crane Money Fund Average is down 44 bps from 0.47% at the beginning of April. Prime Inst MFs were flat at 0.08% in the latest week and Government Inst MFs were flat at 0.03%. Treasury Inst MFs were unchanged at 0.02%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 0.01%, (unchanged in the last week), Government Retail MFs yield 0.01% (unchanged in the last week), and Prime Retail MFs yield 0.03% (unchanged), Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were also unchanged at 0.02%. (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest MFI Daily.) Our Crane Brokerage Sweep Index, which hit the zero floor five and a half months ago, remains at 0.01%. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of September 18, shows no changes in the last week. All of the major brokerages now offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K. No brokerage sweep rates or money fund yields have gone negative to date, but this could become a distinct possibility in coming weeks or months. Crane's Brokerage Sweep Index has been flat for the last 22 weeks at 0.01% (for balances of $100K). Ameriprise, E*Trade, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, RW Baird, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, UBS and Wells Fargo all currently have rates of 0.01% for balances at the $100K tier level (and almost every other tier too).
