Money market fund assets fell yet again in the latest week, their twelfth decline in a row and 20th decline over the past 23 weeks. Assets have fallen $441 billion since May 20, when they were at a record $4.789 trillion. ICI's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $7.38 billion to $4.35 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, October 28.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $10.21 billion and prime funds increased by $2.38 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $451 million." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs falling $7.6 billion and Retail MMFs increasing $251 million. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $3.639 trillion (83.7% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $597.2 billion (13.7%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $112.5 billion (2.6%). (Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data.)
ICI shows money fund assets up a still massive $716 billion, or 19.7%, year-to-date in 2020, with Inst MMFs up $555 billion (24.5%) and Retail MMFs up $162 billion (11.8%). Over the past 52 weeks, ICI's money fund asset series has increased by $835 billion, or 24.7%, with Retail MMFs rising by $192 billion (14.9%) and Inst MMFs rising by $644 billion (30.8%). (Crane Data's separate and broader Money Fund Intelligence Daily data series shows total MF assets are down $56.7 billion in October (as of 10/28) to $4.721 trillion.)
They explain, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $251 million to $1.53 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $3.04 billion to $1.13 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $2.36 billion to $299.19 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $430 million to $101.03 billion." Retail assets account for just over a third of total assets, or 35.2%, and Government Retail assets make up 73.9% of all Retail MMFs.
ICI adds, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $7.63 billion to $2.82 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $13.25 billion to $2.51 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $4.75 billion to $298.04 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $882 million to $11.47 billion." Institutional assets, which broke below the $3.0 trillion level for the first time since April 22 at the end of August, accounted for 64.8% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 89.0% of all Institutional MMF totals.
The ICI also released its monthly "Trends in Mutual Fund Investing" and its "Month-End Portfolio Holdings of Taxable Money Funds" for September 2020 yesterday. The former report shows that money fund assets decreased by $118.4 billion to $4.404 trillion in September, after decreasing 56.7 billion in August, $55.4 billion in July and $133.5 billion in June. Assets increased $31.8 billion in May, $399.4 billion in April and $690.6 in March. For the 12 months through Sept. 30, 2020, money fund assets have increased by a stunning $963.2 billion, or 28.0%.
ICI's monthly "Trends" release states, "The combined assets of the nation's mutual funds decreased by $542.80 billion, or 2.4 percent, to $22.15 trillion in September, according to the Investment Company Institute's official survey of the mutual fund industry. In the survey, mutual fund companies report actual assets, sales, and redemptions to ICI.... Bond funds had an inflow of $36.97 billion in September, compared with an inflow of $69.81 billion in August.... Money market funds had an outflow of $118.56 billion in September, compared with an outflow of $56.80 billion in August. In September funds offered primarily to institutions had an outflow of $114.09 billion and funds offered primarily to individuals had an outflow of $4.48 billion."
ICI's latest statistics show that both Taxable MMFs and Tax Exempt MMFs lost assets last month. Taxable MMFs decreased by $111.5 billion in September to $4.291 trillion. Tax-Exempt MMFs decreased $6.9 billion to $113.4 billion. Taxable MMF assets increased year-over-year by $983.7 trillion (29.7%), while Tax-Exempt funds fell by $20.5 billion over the past year (-15.3%). Bond fund assets increased by $30.2 billion in August (0.6%) to $4.966 trillion; they've risen by $388.7 billion (8.5%) over the past year.
Money funds represent 19.9% of all mutual fund assets (unchanged from the previous month), while bond funds account for 22.4%, according to ICI. The total number of money market funds was 350, down two from the month prior and down from 367 a year ago. Taxable money funds numbered 272 funds, and tax-exempt money funds numbered 78 funds.
ICI's "Month-End Portfolio Holdings" confirms a modest increase in Repo and Notes, and drops in all other sectors last month. Treasury holdings in Taxable money funds remain in first place among composition segments since surpassing Repo in April. Treasury holdings decreased by $5.7 billion, or -0.2%, to $2.276 trillion, or 53.0% of holdings. Treasury securities have increased by $1.330 trillion, or 140.8%, over the past 12 months. (See our October 13 News, "October MF Portfolio Holdings: CP, CDs, TDs Fall; Treasury, Repo Flat.")
Repurchase Agreements were in second place among composition segments; they increased by $5.2 billion, or 0.5%, to $998.7 billion, or 23.3% of holdings. Repo holdings have dropped $174.4 billion, or -14.9%, over the past year. U.S. Government Agency securities were the third largest segment; they decreased $45.4 billion, or -6.1%, to $700.0 trillion, or 16.3% of holdings. Agency holdings have risen by $4.6 billion, or 0.7%, over the past 12 months.
Certificates of Deposit (CDs) stood in fourth place; they decreased by $32.5 billion, or -15.3%, to $180.3 billion (4.2% of assets). CDs held by money funds shrunk by $78.2 billion, or -30.3%, over 12 months. Commercial Paper remained in fifth place, down $15.1 million, or -8.0%, to $172.6 billion (4.0% of assets). CP has decreased by $64.4 billion, or -27.2%, over one year. Other holdings increased to $442 million (0.8% of assets), while Notes (including Corporate and Bank) were down to $996 million (0.01% of assets).
The Number of Accounts Outstanding in ICI's series for taxable money funds increased by 137.5 million to 39.823 million, while the Number of Funds was unchanged at 272. Over the past 12 months, the number of accounts rose by 3.845 million and the number of funds decreased by 14. The Average Maturity of Portfolios was 45 days, up two from August. Over the past 12 months, WAMs of Taxable money have increased by 12.
