Crane Money Fund Index Up to 2.05%
Money fund yields continued creeping higher again in the latest week, with our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (7-Day Yield) rising 3 basis points to 2.05% in the week ended Friday, 9/9. Yields rose by 3 basis points the previous week, 2 bps the week before that, and 3 basis points the week before that. On average, they're up from 1.57% on July 29, up from 1.18% on June 30 and more than triple their level of 0.58% on May 31. MMF yields are up from 0.21% on April 29, 0.15% on March 31 and 0.02% on February 28 (where they'd been for almost 2 years prior). Yields should jump again following the Fed's Sept. 21 meeting, when they're expected to hike rates by another 75 bps. Our broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 679), shows a 7-day yield of 1.94%, up 3 bps in the week through Friday. The Crane Money Fund Average is up 91 bps since beginning of July and up 147 bps from 0.47% at the beginning of June. Prime Inst MFs were up 1 bp to 2.15% in the latest week, up 88 bps since the start of July and up 151 bps since the start of June (close to double from the month prior). Government Inst MFs rose by 3 bps to 1.97%, they are up 87 bps since start of July and up 143 bps since the start of June. Treasury Inst MFs up 3 bps for the week at 2.00%, up 96 bps since beginning of July and up 150 bps since the beginning of June. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 1.76%, (up 4 bps for the week, up 96 bps since July and up 146 bps since June), Government Retail MFs yield 1.67% (up 2 bps for the week, up 88 bps since July started and up 141 bps since June started), and Prime Retail MFs yield 2.00% (up 1 bp for the week, up 93 bps from beginning of July and up 152 bps from beginning of June), Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields fell by 11 bps to 1.01%, they are up 45 bps since the start of July and up 63 bps since the start of June. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (9/9), just 57 funds (out of 822 total) still yield between 0.00% and 0.99% with assets of $10.6 billion, or 0.2% of total assets; 155 funds yield between 1.00% and 1.49% with $184.8 billion in assets, or 3.7%; 92 funds yielded between 1.50% and 1.74% with $175.6 billion or 3.5%; 173 funds yielded between 1.75% and 1.99% ($1.227 trillion, or 24.4%); 255 funds yielded between 2.00% and 2.24% ($2.475 trillion, or 49.1%) and 90 funds yielded 2.25% or more ($963.6 billion, or 19.1%). Brokerage sweep rates were flat over the past week. Our Crane Brokerage Sweep Index, the average rate for brokerage sweep clients (almost all of which are swept into FDIC insured accounts; only Fidelity sweeps to a money market fund), was unchanged this past week at 0.26%.
