News Archives: November, 2024
ICI's latest "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money funds rebounding $26.8 billion to a record $6.675 trillion in the latest week, after falling $22.2 billion the previous week. Money fund sssets have risen in 13 of the last 17, and 24 of the last 32, weeks, increasing by $371.7 billion (or 5.9%) since the Fed cut on 9/18 and increasing by $697.7 billion (or 11.7%) since April 24. MMF assets are up by $789 billion, or 16.7%, year-to-date in 2024 (through 11/26/24), with Institutional MMFs up $407 billion, or 13.3% and Retail MMFs up $382 billion, or 22.8%. Over the past 52 weeks, money funds have risen by $839 billion, or 14.4%, with Retail MMFs up by $426 billion (19.0%) and Inst MMFs rising by $413 billion (11.5%). (Note: We're still taking registrations for our "basic training" event, Money Fund University, which will be held Dec. 19-20, 2024 in Providence, R.I. Happy Thanksgiving, and see you in Providence in 3 weeks!)
ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets increased by $26.77 billion to $6.68 trillion for the six-day period ended Tuesday, November 26, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds increased by $25.14 billion and prime funds increased by $2.55 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $924 million." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs increasing $25.7 billion and Retail MMFs rising $1.1 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $5.471 trillion (82.0% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.068 trillion (16.0%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $135.8 billion (2.0%).
It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $1.07 billion to $2.67 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $1.30 billion to $1.70 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $332 million to $846.80 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $556 million to $123.78 billion." Retail assets account for over a third of total assets, or 40.0%, and Government Retail assets make up 63.7% of all Retail MMFs.
They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds increased by $25.69 billion to $4.00 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets increased by $23.85 billion to $3.77 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $2.21 billion to $221.46 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $368 million to $12.02 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 60.0% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.2% of all institutional MMF totals. According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have risen by $169.8 billion in November through 11/26 to a record $7.032 trillion. Assets rose by $97.5 billion in October, $149.8 billion in September, $109.7 billion in August, $16.6 billion in July, $15.7 billion in June and $91.4 billion in May. They declined by $15.8 billion in April and $68.8 billion in March. They rose $72.1 billion in February, $93.9 billion in January, $32.7 billion in December and $226.4 billion last November. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're about $340 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
The ICI also published its latest monthly "Trends in Mutual Fund Investing" for October 2024, and its monthly "Month-End Portfolio Holdings of Taxable Money Funds" Wednesday. ICI's monthly Trends shows money fund totals rising $117.4 billion, or 1.8%, in October to $6.542 trillion. MMFs have increased by $874.7 billion, or 15.4%, over the past 12 months (through 10/31/24). Money funds' October asset increase follows an increase of $158.6 billion in September, $124.8 billion in August, $46.6 billion in July, $13.0 billion in June, $90.9 billion in May and $4.3 billion in April. They decreased $73.0 billion in March, but increased $55.1 billion in February, $82.4 billion in January, $34.9 billion in December and $213.9 billion last November. Bond fund assets decreased $55.6 billion to $5.055 trillion, and bond ETF assets inched down to $1.74 trillion.
The monthly release states, "The combined assets of the nation's mutual funds decreased by $286.21 billion, or 1.0 percent, to $28.17 trillion in October, 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 $34.15 billion in October, compared with an inflow of $14.03 billion in September.... Money market funds had an inflow of $101.61 billion in October, compared with an inflow of $143.23 billion in September. In October funds offered primarily to institutions had an inflow of $55.33 billion and funds offered primarily to individuals had an inflow of $46.28 billion."
The Institute's latest statistics show that Taxable MMFs and Tax Exempt MMFs were both higher from last month. Taxable MMFs increased by $113.4 billion in October to $6.408 trillion. Tax-Exempt MMFs increased $4.0 billion to $133.7 billion. Taxable MMF assets increased year-over-year by $864.0 billion (15.6%), and Tax-Exempt funds rose by $10.6 billion over the past year (8.6%). Bond fund assets decreased by $55.6 billion (after increasing by $75.1 billion in September) to $5.055 trillion; they've increased by $616.7 billion (13.9%) over the past year.
Money funds represent 23.2% of all mutual fund assets (up 0.6% from the previous month), while bond funds account for 17.9%, according to ICI. The total number of money market funds was 260, down 3 from the prior month and down from 276 a year ago. Taxable money funds numbered 217 funds, and tax-exempt money funds numbered 43 funds.
ICI's "Month-End Portfolio Holdings" confirms a jump in Treasuries and a drop in Repo last month. Treasury holdings in Taxable money funds remained the largest composition segment last month, they increased $212.2 billion, or 8.5%, to $2.721 trillion, or 42.5% of holdings. Treasury securities have increased by $868.8 billion, or 46.9%, over the past 12 months. (See our Nov. 13 News, "Nov. Money Fund Portfolio Holdings: Treasuries Surge, Reclaims Top Spot.")
Repurchase Agreements were the second largest composition segment this past month, decreasing $224.1 billion, or -9.0%, to $2.277 trillion, or 35.5% of holdings. Repo holdings have decreased $192.4 billion, or -7.8%, over the past year. U.S. Government Agency securities were the third largest segment; they increased $63.5 billion, or 8.5%, to $808.0 billion, or 12.6% of holdings. Agency holdings have increased by $146.7 billion, or 22.2%, over the past 12 months.
Certificates of Deposit (CDs) remained in fourth place; they increased by $5.6 billion, or 1.8%, to $316.9 billion (4.9% of assets). CDs held by money funds rose by $1.5 billion, or 0.5%, over 12 months. Commercial Paper remained in fifth place, up $10.4 billion, or 3.8%, to $283.2 billion (4.4% of assets). CP increased $54.2 billion, or 23.7%, over one year. Other holdings increased to $20.5 billion (0.3% of assets), while Notes (including Corporate and Bank) decreased to $27.0 billion (0.4% of assets).
The Number of Accounts Outstanding in ICI's series for taxable money funds increased to 73.512 million, while the Number of Funds was unchanged at 217. Over the past 12 months, the number of accounts rose by 10.832 million and the number of funds decreased by 13. The Average Maturity of Portfolios was 36 days, up 6 days from September. Over the past 12 months, WAMs of Taxable money have increased by 6.
The Securities and Exchange Commission published its latest monthly "Money Market Fund Statistics" summary for October, which shows that total money fund assets rose by $93.3 billion in October to a record $6.927 trillion, after jumping $166.6 billion the month prior. The SEC shows Prime MMFs increasing $16.4 billion in October to $1.174 trillion, Govt & Treasury funds increasing $73.2 billion to $5.616 trillion and Tax Exempt funds increasing $3.7 billion to $137.9 billion. Taxable yields fell in October after plunging in September. The SEC's Division of Investment Management summarizes monthly Form N-MFP data and includes asset totals and averages for yields, liquidity levels, WAMs, WALs, holdings, and other money market fund trends. We review their latest numbers below. (For the month of November, through 11/25, total money fund assets increased by $146.5 billion to $7.009 trillion, according to Crane Data's separate, and slightly smaller, MFI Daily series.)
October's overall asset increase follows an increase of $166.6 billion in September, $97.8 billion in August, $19.5 billion in July, $21.3 billion in June, and $89.7 billion in May. Assets decreased $17.7 billion in April and $68.5 billion in March, but increased $65.9 billion in February, $87.7 billion in January, $34.0 billion in December and $225.7 billion last November. Over the 12 months through 10/31/24, total MMF assets increased by $815.5 billion, or 13.3%, according to the SEC's series.
The SEC's stats show that of the $6.927 trillion in assets, $1.174 trillion was in Prime funds, up $16.4 billion in October. Prime assets were down $5.6 billion in September, $25.1 billion in August, $11.5 billion in July, $204.6 billion in June, up $19.7 billion in May, down $30.0 billion in April, up $8.1 billion in March, $33.5 billion in February, $52.5 billion in January, $1.2 billion in December, and $32.5 billion in November. Prime funds represented 16.9% of total assets at the end of October. They've decreased by $112.7 billion, or -8.8%, over the past 12 months. (Note that the SEC's series includes a number of internal money funds not tracked by ICI, though Crane Data includes most of these assets in its collections.)
Government & Treasury funds totaled $5.616 trillion, or 81.1% of assets. They increased $73.2 billion in October, $171.2 billion in September, $121.9 billion in August, $31.3 billion in July, $229.2 billion in June, $65.5 billion in May, increased $9.3 billion in April, decreased $78.8 billion in March, increased $33.1 billion in February, $39.7 billion in January, $31.7 billion in December and $193.7 billion last November. Govt & Treasury MMFs are up $921.0 billion over 12 months, or 19.6%. Tax Exempt Funds increased $3.7 billion to $137.9 billion, or 2.0% of all assets. The number of money funds was 274 in October, down 6 from the previous month and down 16 funds from a year earlier.
Yields for Taxable MMFs were lower while Tax Exempt MMFs were higher in October. The Weighted Average Gross 7-Day Yield for Prime Institutional Funds on Oct. 31 was 5.00%, down 4 bps from the prior month. The Weighted Average Gross 7-Day Yield for Prime Retail MMFs was 5.00%, down 6 bps from the previous month. Gross yields were 4.90% for Government Funds, down 10 bps from last month. Gross yields for Treasury Funds were down 16 bps at 4.87%. Gross Yields for Tax Exempt Institutional MMFs were up 16 basis points to 3.54% in October. Gross Yields for Tax Exempt Retail funds were up 13 bps to 3.43%.
The Weighted Average 7-Day Net Yield for Prime Institutional MMFs was 4.89%, down 5 bps from the previous month and down 55 bps from 10/31/23. The Average Net Yield for Prime Retail Funds was 4.73%, down 6 bps from the previous month, and down 57 bps since 10/31/23. Net yields were 4.68% for Government Funds, down 10 bps from last month. Net yields for Treasury Funds were down 16 bps from the previous month at 4.65%. Net Yields for Tax Exempt Institutional MMFs were up 14 bps from September to 3.40%. Net Yields for Tax Exempt Retail funds were up 14 bps at 3.20% in October. (Note: These averages are asset-weighted.)
WALs and WAMs were up in October. The average Weighted Average Life, or WAL, was 50.6 days (up 5.2 days) for Prime Institutional funds, and 51.5 days for Prime Retail funds (up 7.1 days). Government fund WALs averaged 91.0 days (up 10.4 days) while Treasury fund WALs averaged 85.8 days (up 7.9 days). Tax Exempt Institutional fund WALs were 4.7 days (up 0.3 days), and Tax Exempt Retail MMF WALs averaged 32.5 days (up 1.3 days).
The Weighted Average Maturity, or WAM, was 30.1 days (up 5.0 days from the previous month) for Prime Institutional funds, 26.6 days (up 5.7 days from the previous month) for Prime Retail funds, 36.1 days (up 7.5 days from previous month) for Government funds, and 42.3 days (up 5.8 days from previous month) for Treasury funds. Tax Exempt Inst WAMs were up 0.3 days to 4.7 days, while Tax Exempt Retail WAMs were up 1.3 days from previous month at 31.9 days.
Total Daily Liquid Assets for Prime Institutional funds were 53.1% in October (up 1.0% from the previous month), and DLA for Prime Retail funds was 44.6% (unchanged from previous month) as a percent of total assets. The average DLA was 65.4% for Govt MMFs and 93.5% for Treasury MMFs. Total Weekly Liquid Assets was 65.5% (down 0.3% from the previous month) for Prime Institutional MMFs, and 60.6% (down 1.9% from the previous month) for Prime Retail funds. Average WLA was 77.2% for Govt MMFs and 98.8% for Treasury MMFs.
In the SEC's "Prime Holdings of Bank-Related Securities by Country table for October 2024," the largest entries included: the U.S. with $176.1B, Canada with $161.8 billion, Japan with $131.0 billion, France with $88.2 billion, the U.K. with $50.5B, Aust/NZ with $47.5B, the Netherlands with $42.7B, Germany with $25.0B and Switzerland with $4.8B. The gainers among the "Prime MMF Holdings by Country" included: Japan (up $11.1B), the U.K. (up $10.3B), Aust/NZ (up $5.5B) and France (up $1.5B). Decreases were shown by: Germany (down $7.0B), Netherlands (down $6.6B), Canada (down $2.4B), Switzerland (down $0.6B) and the U.S. (down $0.1B).
The SEC's "Prime Holdings of Bank-Related Securities by Region" table shows The Americas had $337.9 billion (down $2.5B), while Eurozone had $185.2B (up $3.2B). Asia Pacific subset had $210.6B (up $16.8B), while Europe (non-Eurozone) had $124.3B (up $19.9B from last month).
The "Prime MMF Aggregate Product Exposures" chart shows that of the $1.164 trillion in Prime MMF Portfolios as of October 31, $429.6B (36.9%) was in Government & Treasury securities (direct and repo) (down from $430.3B), $322.8B (27.7%) was in CDs and Time Deposits (up from $317.0B), $200.2B (17.2%) was in Financial Company CP (up from $189.7B), $133.5B (11.5%) was held in Non-Financial CP and Other securities (up from $129.2B), and $78.0B (6.7%) was in ABCP (down from $78.6B).
The SEC's "Government and Treasury Funds Bank Repo Counterparties by Country" table shows the U.S. with $446.1 billion, Canada with $178.7 billion, France with $228.2 billion, the U.K. with $119.5 billion, Germany with $21.1 billion, Japan with $142.2 billion and Other with $45.9 billion. All MMF Repo with the Federal Reserve was down $256.2 billion in October to $173.6 billion.
Finally, a "Percent of Securities with Greater than 179 Days to Maturity" table shows Prime Inst MMFs 8.8%, Prime Retail MMFs with 7.5%, Tax Exempt Inst MMFs with 0.0%, Tax Exempt Retail MMFs with 6.9%, Govt MMFs with 14.1% and Treasury MMFs with 12.8%.
Crane Data is making plans and preparing the agenda for our eighth annual ultra-short bond fund event, Bond Fund Symposium, which will take place March 27-28, 2025 at the Hyatt Regency in Newport Beach, Calif. Crane's Bond Fund Symposium offers a concentrated and affordable educational experience, as well as an excellent networking venue, for bond fund and fixed-income professionals. Registrations are now being accepted ($1,000) and sponsorship opportunities are available. We review the preliminary agenda and details below, and we also give the latest update on our upcoming "basic training" show, Money Fund University, which will be held next month in Providence, Dec. 19-20. (We'll also be hosting our Crane Data Holiday Party alongside MFU, so please join us Thursday, Dec. 19 from 5:00-7:30pm at the Renaissance Hotel in Providence.)
Bond Fund Symposium's Day One (3/27) morning agenda includes: Keynote: Ultra-Shorts Bond Funds: Surf's Finally Up with Teresa Ho of J.P. Morgan Securities, Dave Martucci of J.P. Morgan A.M. and Jerome Schneider of PIMCO; Bond Market Strategists: Rates & Returns with Jay Barry of J.P. Morgan Securities and Ira Jersey of Bloomberg Intelligence; and ETF Index & Near-Cash ETF Trends, with Bill Ahmuty of State Street Global Advisors and James Palmieri of State Street Global Advisors. (Note: The agenda is still a work in progress, so let us know if you're interested in speaking or have any requests!)
The Day One afternoon agenda includes: Senior Portfolio Manager Perspectives with Richard Mejzak of BlackRock, Dave Rothweiler of UBS Asset Management and Nicholas Tripodes of Federated Hermes; Long-Term & Core Bond Fund Issues with Matthew Brill of Invesco and Priya Misra of J.P. Morgan A.M.; LGIPs & Bond Fund Ratings with Steven Johnson of Fitch Ratings; and, ESG and DE&I Bond Fund Offerings featuring Henry Shilling of Sustainable Res & Analysis and Samuel Ramirez, Jr. of Ramirez A.M.. Monday will close with a reception sponsored by Northern Trust (which is open to anyone in the area to "crash" too).
Day Two's agenda includes: State of the Bond Fund Marketplace with Shelly Antoniewicz of ICI and Peter Crane of Crane Data; Regulatory Update: Bond Fund Issues '25 with Aaron Withrow of Dechert LLP and Rebecca Rodrigues of Stradley Ronon; Money Funds & Conservative Ultra-Shorts with Peter Crane of Crane Data and Dan LaRocco of Northern Trust A.M.; Bond Fund Data & Information with Peter Crane of Crane Data and Michael Masih of S&P Global Ratings.
Portfolio managers, analysts, investors, issuers, service providers, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of bond funds and fixed-income investing will benefit from our comprehensive program. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency. We'd like to thank our past sponsors and exhibitors -- Wells Fargo Securities, Fitch Ratings, Fidelity Investments, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Allspring Global, S&P Global Ratings, StoneX, Invesco, BofA Securities, Northern Trust, Bloomberg Intelligence, Goldman Sachs, Federated, Payden & Rygel, PIMCO and Dechert -- for their support. (We'd also love to get some new ones!) E-mail us for more details.
Also, our 14th Annual Crane's Money Fund University will be held December 19-20, 2024 at The Renaissance Hotel Providence Downtown. Crane's Money Fund University covers the history of money funds, interest rates, regulations (Rule 2a-7), ratings, rankings, money market instruments such as commercial paper, CDs and repo, and portfolio construction and credit analysis. We also include segments on offshore money funds and ultra-short bond funds.
New portfolio managers, analysts, investors, issuers, service providers, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of "cash" investing should benefit from our comprehensive program. Even experienced professionals may enjoy a refresher course and the opportunity to interact with peers in an informal setting. Attendee registration for Crane's Money Fund University is just $750, exhibit space is $2,000, and sponsorship opportunities are $3K (Bronze), $4K (Silver), and $5K (Gold). A block of rooms has been reserved at the Renaissance Providence Downtown.
Money Fund University's comprehensive program is good for anyone -- beginners and experienced professionals looking for a refresher -- alike. The latest MFU agenda is available online and we are still accepting registrations. (We're also willing to "comp" tickets for large Crane Data or sponsor clients, so let us know if you're interested.)
We'll also soon be making plans for our next "big show," Money Fund Symposium, which will be held June 23-25, 2025, at The Renaissance Boston Seaport in Boston. (Let us know if you'd like details on speaking or sponsoring.) Finally, mark your calendars for next year's European Money Fund Symposium, which will be held Sept. 25-26, 2025 in Dublin, Ireland. Watch for details on these shows in coming weeks and months.
Reuters tells us that, "America's $7 trillion cash stash isn't going anywhere." They write, "A record-high $7 trillion of cash is currently sitting 'on the sidelines' in money market funds (MMFs). Anyone hoping to see a significant chunk of this flooding the wider investment field in the coming months may be disappointed. Many strategists assume this massive pile of cash will start to shrink now that the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates as investors seek a more profitable home for their capital in the face of diminishing cash yields.... Not so fast." (Note: Please register soon for Money Fund University, which will be held Dec. 19-20, 2024 in Providence, R.I. Happy Thanksgiving, and hope to see you in Providence in 3 weeks!)
The piece states, "In this topsy-turvy world, MMFs have emerged as a premium destination for investors' cash. They offer significantly higher rates of interest than rival checking accounts and commercial deposits or fixed income assets like Treasuries that would traditionally be the havens of choice for those seeking liquidity and safety. In 'normal' times, longer-dated bonds carry higher yields than MMFs, because the yield curve usually has a positive slope."
It continues, "But times have not returned to 'normal', and Treasury yields have been below the fed funds rate for two years. Why buy a two-, five- or ten-year bond and assume duration risk when you can earn more in a plain old money market fund?"
The article adds, "Redeployment may not be so rapid. Strategists at Societe Generale recommend clients maintain their 10% cash allocation next year. Yet expectations for an imminent exit from cash persist. 'The road is lined with people trying to call the impact and timing of cash moving off the sidelines,' says Adam Farstrup, head of multi-asset, Americas, at Schroders."
In related news, Barron's asks, "Can Cash Be King Again? Suddenly, T-Bills Look More Attractive." Subtitled, "The potential for higher-for-longer rates means cash vehicles, including Treasury bills, money market funds and savings accounts, could continue to offer attractive yields into next year," the article says, "Cash could be the best game in town. That's the argument of one prominent Wall Street analyst after market shifts make short-term investments look a lot more attractive."
They quote Strategist David Rosenberg, "Time to de-risk and shift to cash.... A safe 4.5% 3-month T-bill yield looks compelling in an increasingly unpredictable backdrop." Barron's explains, "It's worth noting that Rosenberg, former chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch, is a long time stock skeptic. Sometimes labeled a permabear, Rosenberg argued earlier this year the economy was on the verge of a recession.... So far, that hasn't panned out. But when it comes to cash, Rosenberg has a point—short-term holdings do look more attractive than they did just a few weeks ago."
Finally, they comment, "The potential for higher-for-longer rates means cash vehicles, including Treasury bills, money-market funds and savings accounts, could continue to offer attractive yields well into next year.... Just how much cash should investors hold? It depends on your situation, wrote Rosenberg in an email Tuesday. 'Think back to the past, when you had allocated the most [in] your portfolio into T-bills and money-market funds, and head straight for that target,' he said. 'For those with constant ice in their veins, that could mean 10%. For those like me with a more conservative streak, it would mean 50%.'"
In other news, WSJ columnist Jason Zweig published the brief, "Awash in Cash," which states, "Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is piling up cash at what I believe is the fastest clip in the history of corporations. A year ago, Berkshire had an already stupendous $157.2 billion in cash and short-term investments. By this Sept. 30, the company had more than doubled that hoard to $325.2 billion."
He tells us, "Never mind that with this cash pile, Berkshire could buy all of the 40 smallest companies in the S&P 500, combined, at their current market value. Leave aside the fact that this mountain of cash is greater than the gross domestic product of 55 of the world's nations put together, according to the World Bank."
The piece asks, "Is it humanly possible to find enough undervalued investments to put a third of a trillion dollars to work? In a world where private-equity funds will pay any price and bear any debt burden to put their surplus capital to work, I'm not sure. Shareholders aren't likely to complain too much about drowning in cash so long as Buffett remains in charge, but I think his eventual successors will have to initiate a dividend. I doubt they will have much choice."
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Financial Research (OFR) published its "2024 Annual Report" earlier this week, and the update contains a number of mentions of repo, money funds and stablecoins. (See the press release here.) The report says on "Treasuries," "Risk arises from the basis trade because the profit on individual transactions is usually small, and investors often use leverage to achieve large positions. Most often, this is done by funding Treasury purchases in repurchase agreement, or repo, markets. A repo is a contract in which a market participant sells an asset with an agreement to buy it back. Repos require posting extra collateral if the price of the Treasury drops. If collateral requirements rise and the trade, including the cost of leverage, becomes unprofitable, or if repo funding dries up, the investor may unwind the trade by selling the Treasury and buying an offsetting future. This happened en masse in March 2020, adding to market stress."
Discussing "Securities Lending," OFR writes, "Financial stability risks are influenced by securities lenders' ability to quickly return collateral. The lender owns the collateral provided by the borrower. Often, the collateral is cash, and the lender can place it into short-term money market investments. If security prices move significantly, then many borrowers may decide to return securities they have borrowed to their lenders. The lenders must quickly return the collateral and typically liquidate the associated investments. For example, if many stocks experience large price changes, flows out of short-term money markets might be large. Moreover, if the securities lender puts the collateral in illiquid investments and the investments fall in value, the lender will bear the loss. In the worst case, these dynamics can weaken the securities lender, often a large financial institution, and have potential knock- on effects for the financial system."
It comments, "Total deposits have changed little since the Federal Reserve began raising short-term interest rates in 2022.... Some depositors moved money into money market mutual funds (MMMFs) or other instruments that pay market rates of interest. However, the fraction of all deposits estimated to be uninsured has been fairly stable for many years."
OFR states, "Money markets support core functions of the financial system. They offer savers and investors access to very short-term debt instruments that have features similar to cash, or government-issued currency. Holders use these debt instruments to store value in cash substitutes that offer additional yield, to support their ability to make payments, and as collateral. Issuers use these debt instruments to manage the ebbs and flows of cash and to fund investments in other assets. Central banks use some of these instruments, mostly government-issued debt and repos, to achieve their interest rate targets. Money markets currently do not appear stressed, but that can change with little warning, in contrast to many other parts of the financial system in which stress develops more gradually."
They explain, "Money markets are liquid when lenders can readily access their funds and borrowers can obtain funds when they want and at a relatively low cost. Some money market instruments involve the risk of default or an inability to quickly convert assets to cash. A sudden loss of confidence can lead to runs and asset fire sales, causing funding to become less available to money market borrowers. Stress in money markets can also disrupt the ability to make payments. Because money markets are essential to the functioning of the financial system, such stress can rapidly spread."
The report continues, "Vulnerabilities associated with money markets remain moderate. Data gaps remain in repo markets, although a new OFR data collection will reduce them. Money market institutions and instruments are subject to maturity and liquidity risks and associated run risk. In addition, banks and many NBFIs, including those with high leverage, are exposed to default risk from each other through their activities in money markets, especially repo markets. Some stablecoins are inherently susceptible to runs, and stablecoins generally are opaque, making their risk hard to assess. Technology vulnerabilities at FMUs and TSPs on which money markets rely expose payment flows and the broader financial system to the risk of destabilizing service outages."
It also says, "U.S. repo markets are among the largest and most liquid short-term funding markets in the world. Total repo volume has been rising since 2021.... The OFR estimates that more than $4 trillion is outstanding. The rise is partly attributable to changes in the role of repo markets in the Federal Reserve's implementation of monetary policy.... If large repo lenders suddenly decide not to roll over repo, dealers must quickly find other sources of financing or sell assets, which may transmit repo market stress to other markets. For example, many dealers lend to hedge funds using funds borrowed through repos with MMMFs. Withdrawals from MMMFs can be quickly transmitted to hedge funds via repo markets."
Discussing "Money Market Mutual Funds" on pages 68-70, OFR tells us, "MMMFs accept funds from retail, commercial, and government entities. Withdrawals from MMMFs are settled the same day or overnight, and balances can quickly be moved to another investment. MMMFs place the funds in a variety of short-term investments such as repo, CP, and Treasury bills. At about $6.7 trillion as of August 2024, MMMF assets are large."
They claim, "MMMFs are subject to runs if their investors become concerned that they may not be able to withdraw funds on demand at par value. The only way to prevent run behavior is for MMMFs to invest solely in money market instruments with a one-day maturity and issued by entities certain to repay on time. As a practical matter, a sizable share of all MMMF instruments have maturity dates longer than one day. MMMFs' vulnerability does not change over time, in part because money market instruments almost by definition are perceived as safe until they suddenly are perceived differently."
OFR adds, "MMMFs are a significant source of short-term funding for longer-term assets and an important cash-management vehicle for investors. Their investments create a web of connections with the rest of the financial system.... These connections can rapidly transmit adverse shocks at MMMFs across global funding markets. Institutional and retail prime funds differ from U.S. government funds in their ability to invest in the unsecured obligations of private-sector entities. Though such investments are perceived as safe, they carry more credit risk than government obligations. Over the years, prime funds have experienced more sudden outflows akin to runs than government funds. The most recent episode was in March 2020. Regulations were revised in 2023 with the goal of reducing MMMFs' vulnerability to runs."
Finally, the report comments, "Several types of institutional MMMFs are required to report floating NAVs, but some investors may be concerned that NAVs will fall well below $1. In earlier periods of stress, MMMF sponsors played a critical role in preventing NAVs from falling below $1. They also have mitigated potential spillovers to affiliate funds and short-term funding markets more broadly. However, uncertainty about the availability and capacity of sponsor support has also fueled runs. As industry assets have grown relative to sponsors' capital resources, risks associated with reliance on sponsor support have increased."
The SEC published its latest quarterly "Private Funds Statistics" report recently, which summarizes Form PF reporting and includes some data on "Liquidity Funds," or pools which are similar to but not money market funds. The publication shows overall Liquidity fund assets were lower in the latest reported quarter (Q1'24) at $331 billion (down from $352 billion in Q4'23 but up from $313 billion in Q1'23). We also again briefly review the part of the SEC's MMF Reforms which addresses "Amendments to Form PF Reporting Requirements for Large Liquidity Fund Advisers" and which went into effect over the summer, below. (Note: Register ASAP for our upcoming Money Fund University, which will be held Dec. 19-20, 2024 in Providence, R.I. See you in Providence in 4 weeks!)
The SEC's "Introduction" tells us, "This report provides a summary of recent private fund industry statistics and trends, reflecting data collected through Form PF and Form ADV filings received through October 04, 2024. Form PF information provided in this report is aggregated, rounded, and/or masked to avoid potential disclosure of proprietary information of individual Form PF filers. This report reflects data from First Calendar Quarter 2022 through First Calendar Quarter 2024 as reported by Form PF filers." (Note: Crane Data believes the largest portion of these liquidity fund assets are securities lending reinvestment pools.)
The tables in the SEC's "Private Funds Statistics: First Calendar Quarter 2024," with the most recent data available, show 73 Liquidity Funds (most of which are "Section 3 Liquidity Funds," which are Liquidity Funds from advisers with over $1 billion total in cash), up 1 from last quarter and up 3 from a year ago. (There are 48 Section 3 Liquidity Funds out of the 73 Liquidity Funds.) The SEC receives Form PF reports from 37 Liquidity Fund advisers (19 of which are Section 3 Liquidity Fund advisers), unchanged from last quarter and up 4 from a year ago.
The SEC's table on "Aggregate Private Fund Net Asset Value" shows total Liquidity Fund assets at $331 billion, down $21 billion from Q4'23 and up $18 billion from a year ago (Q1'23). Of this total, $325 billion is in Section 3 (large manager) Liquidity Funds. The SEC's table on "Aggregate Private Fund Gross Asset Value" shows total Liquidity Fund assets at $339 billion, down $22 billion from Q4'23 and up $19 billion from a year ago (Q1'23). Of this total, $333 billion in is Section 3 (large manager) Liquidity Funds.
A table on "Beneficial Ownership for Section 3 Liquidity Funds" shows $118 billion is held by Other (36.4%), $56 billion is held by Unknown Non-U.S. Investors (17.1%), $54 billion is held by Private Funds (16.6%), $12 billion is held by Insurance Companies (3.7%) and $3 billion is held by Non-Profits (1.1%).
The tables also show that 66.6% of Section 3 Liquidity Funds have a liquidation period of one day, $309 billion of these funds may suspend redemptions, and $282 billion of these funds may have gates. WAMs average a short 38.9 days (50.5 days when weighted by assets), WALs are 53.5 days (71.7 days when asset-weighted), and 7-Day Gross Yields average 5.20% (5.20% asset-weighted). Daily Liquid Assets average about 54.5% (47.0% asset-weighted) while Weekly Liquid Assets average about 62.1% (61.1% asset-weighted).
Overall, these portfolios appear shorter with a heavier Treasury exposure than money market funds in general; a third of them (33.3%) are fully compliant with Rule 2a-7. When calculating NAVs, 72.9% are "Stable" and 27.1% are "Floating."
As we've mentioned before, in July 2023, when the SEC's Money Market Fund Reforms were passed, these also included "Amendments to Form PF Reporting Requirements for Large Liquidity Fund Advisers." The release explains, "Separately, the amendments will also modify certain reporting forms that are applicable to money market funds and large private liquidity funds advisers."
The "Fact Sheet" explains, "In addition, the Commission adopted amendments to Form PF, the confidential reporting form for certain SEC-registered investment advisers to private funds, to require additional information regarding the liquidity funds they advise that is generally aligned with the amended reporting for money market funds. These amendments were proposed by the Commission in January 2022."
The full final rules tell us, "The Commission is also amending Form PF, the confidential reporting form for certain SEC-registered investment advisers to private funds to require additional information regarding the liquidity funds they advise. Liquidity funds are private funds that seek to maintain a stable NAV (or minimize fluctuations in their NAVs) and thus can resemble money market funds. The amendments to section 3 of Form PF will provide a more complete picture of the short-term financing markets in which liquidity funds invest and enhance the Commission's and the Financial Stability Oversight Council's ('FSOC') ability to assess short-term financing markets and facilitate our oversight of those markets and their participants. This, in turn, is designed to enhance investor protection efforts and systemic risk assessment. `We have consulted with FSOC to gain input on these amendments to help ensure that Form PF continues to provide FSOC with information it can use to assess systemic risk."
It adds, "In a January 2022 release proposing amendments to Form PF, the Commission proposed changes to section 3 of Form PF that were intended to require large liquidity fund advisers to report substantially the same information that the Commission had proposed money market funds to report on Form N-MFP. The proposed amendments to section 3 of Form PF included requirements for additional and more granular information regarding large liquidity fund operational information and assets, portfolio holdings, financing, and investor information as well as a new item concerning the disposition of portfolio securities. Consistent with the final amendments to Form N-MFP, we are adopting largely as proposed the amendments to section 3 of Form PF, with some modifications to better tailor the reporting to private liquidity funds and remain consistent with the final requirements for money market funds under amended Form N-MFP."
Mutual fund news source ignites writes, "Money Funds Hit $7T and Are Likely to Stay There in 2025." The piece states, "Money market fund assets hit a record high last week. Even as interest rates continue to fall, however, money funds still have a 'significant yield advantage' over bank deposits, buoying their assets, one analyst said. Money market funds are unlikely to see outflows in 2025, despite continued rate cuts, one analyst said. The funds reached $7 trillion in combined assets Wednesday before dipping below that milestone on Thursday, noted Peter Crane, president of Crane Data. November and December are typically the strongest months of the year for money market fund inflows, and a looming 25-basis-point rate cut by the Federal Open Market Committee in December should provide a short-term tailwind for the funds, he said."
The article quotes, "Falling rates tend to be a 'short-term positive' for money market funds, because they lag the direct money market, Crane noted. Although a falling rate environment would be a 'long-term negative' for money market funds, their yield was hovering around 4.5% last week, indicating a 'significant yield advantage' over bank deposits, he said. 'So, I wouldn't expect outflows from money funds anytime soon, even as we get well into 2025,' Crane said. Money funds' inflows will likely 'slow and subside,' relative to significant recent inflows, but their advantages over bank deposits should remain in place if interest rates bottom out above 4%, he said."
The piece adds, "Money market fund assets grew by $46.8 billion during the week ended Nov. 14, Crane's data shows. Investors piled $634.2 billion into the funds during the year ended Oct. 31, according to data from Morningstar Direct. Recent inflows have primarily come from institutional investors, while the majority of 2024's inflows were from retail investors, Crane noted, adding that those flows have shifted toward firms such as BlackRock over shops like Fidelity and Schwab, as a result."
In other news, Crane Data published its latest Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics Tuesday, which track a shifting subset of our monthly Portfolio Holdings collection. The most recent cut (with data as of Nov. 15) includes Holdings information from 61 money funds (up 14 from two weeks ago), or $3.455 trillion (up from $2.801 trillion) of the $6.982 trillion in total money fund assets (or 49.5%) tracked by Crane Data. (Our Weekly MFPH are e-mail only and aren't available on the website. See our latest Monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings here and our Oct. 10 News, "Nov. Money Fund Portfolio Holdings: Treasuries Surge, Reclaims Top Spot.")
Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.719 trillion (up from $1.310 trillion two weeks ago), or 49.8%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.138 trillion (up from $963.0 billion two weeks ago), or 32.9%, and Government Agency securities totaling $315.4 billion (up from $276.6 billion), or 9.1%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $111.1 billion (up from two weeks ago at $97.3 billion), or 3.2%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $63.1 billion (up from $58.6 billion two weeks ago), or 1.8%. The Other category accounted for $73.0 billion or 2.1%, while VRDNs accounted for $35.8 billion, or 1.0%.
The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.719 trillion (49.8% of total holdings), Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $334.0B (9.7%), the Federal Home Loan Bank with $213.4 billion (6.2%), BNP Paribas with $88.4B (2.6%), JP Morgan with $77.2B (2.2%), Citi with $74.7B (2.2%), Federal Farm Credit Bank with $73.1B (2.1%), RBC with $57.7B (1.7%), Goldman Sachs with $47.7B (1.4%) and Bank of America with $40.5B (1.2%).
The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($279.3B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($264.4B), JPMorgan 100% US Treas MMkt ($227.3B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($207.5B), BlackRock Lq FedFund ($176.7B), State Street Inst US Govt ($167.1B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($157.1B), BlackRock Lq Treas Tr ($154.9B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($140.0B) and Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($129.5B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
ICI also released its latest monthly "Money Market Fund Holdings" summary, which reviews the aggregate daily and weekly liquid assets, regional exposure, and maturities (WAM and WAL) for Prime and Government money market funds. This release says, "The Investment Company Institute (ICI) reports that, as of the final Friday in October, prime money market funds held 41.3 percent of their portfolios in daily liquid assets and 60.4 percent in weekly liquid assets, while government money market funds held 76.0 percent of their portfolios in daily liquid assets and 86.8 percent in weekly liquid assets." Prime DLA was down from 42.3% in September, and Prime WLA was down from 61.7%. Govt MMFs' DLA fell from 77.5% and Govt WLA decreased from 87.9% the previous month.
ICI explains, "At the end of October, prime funds had a weighted average maturity (WAM) of 29 days and a weighted average life (WAL) of 54 days. Average WAMs and WALs are asset-weighted. Government money market funds had a WAM of 38 days and a WAL of 91 days." Prime WAMs were 5 days longer and WALs were 7 days longer from the previous month. Govt WAMs were 6 days longer and WALs were 10 days longer from September.
Regarding Holdings by Region of Issuer, the release tells us, "Prime money market funds' holdings attributable to the Americas declined from $532.92 billion in September to $518.33 billion in October. Government money market funds' holdings attributable to the Americas rose from $4,870.45 billion in September to $4,880.05 billion in October." The Prime Money Market Funds by Region of Issuer table shows Americas-related holdings at $518.3 billion, or 49.4%; Asia and Pacific at $197.1 billion, or 18.8%; Europe at $309.7 billion, or 29.5%; and, Other (including Supranational) at $23.8 billion, or 2.3%. The Government Money Market Funds by Region of Issuer table shows Americas at $4.880 trillion, or 90.3%; Asia and Pacific at $128.4 billion, or 2.4%; Europe at $373.1 billion, 6.9%, and Other (Including Supranational) at $24.3 billion, or 0.4%.
Money fund yields declined by 9 basis points to 4.48% on average during the week ended Friday, Nov. 15 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after falling 7 bps the week prior. Yields are now reflecting the majority of the Federal Reserve's 25 basis point cut on November 7, but they should continue inching lower this week and next. They've declined by 58 bps since the Fed cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps percent on Sept. 18 and they've declined by 15 bps since the Fed cut rates by 1/4 point on 11/7. Yields were 4.65% on average on 10/31, 4.75% on 9/30, 5.10% on 8/31, 5.13% on 7/31 and 6/28, 5.14% on 5/31, 5.13% on 4/30, 5.14% on 3/31 and 2/29/24, 5.17% on 1/31/24, and 5.20% on 12/31/23. (Note: Register soon for our "basic training" event, Money Fund University, which takes place Dec. 19-20 in Providence, RI.)
The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 672), shows a 7-day yield of 4.39%, down 9 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 10 bps at 4.59% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 9 bps at 4.49%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 7 bps at 4.44%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.22%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.20%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.37%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 40 bps to 2.84%.
Assets of money market funds rose by $12.9 billion last week to $6.982 trillion, they reached a new record high on Wednesday, November 13 of $7.010 trillion but assets declined slightly Thursday and Friday, according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. For the month of November, MMF assets have increased by $119.2 billion, after increasing by $97.5 billion in October and $149.8 billion in September. Weighted average maturities were unchanged at 36 days for the Crane MFA and unchanged at 37 days for the Crane 100 Money Fund Index.
According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (11/15), 75 money funds (out of 786 total) yield under 3.0% with $60.3 billion in assets, or 0.9%; 92 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($118.3 billion, or 1.7%), 619 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($6.803 trillion, or 97.4%) and following the recent rate cut there is now zero funds yielding 5.0% or more.
Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was down 2 bps at 0.46%, after dropping 3 basis points the week prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Nov. 15, shows that there were three changes over the past week. Raymond James lowered rates to 0.20% for accounts of $100K to $249K, to 0.50% for accounts of $250K to $999K, to 1.75% for accounts of $1M to $9.9M and to 2.50% for accounts of $10 million or more. RW Baird also lowered rates to 1.52% for accounts of $1K to $999K, to 2.39% for accounts of $1M to $1.9M and to 3.11% for accounts of $5 million or greater. Merrill Lynch lowered rates once again for their advisory accounts, now at 4.53% (down 10 bps from the week prior). Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
In other news, Roberto Perli, Manager of the System Open Market Account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently spoke on "Facing Quarter-End Pressures: Understanding the Repo Market and Federal Reserve Tools." He explains, "The FOMC sets the stance of monetary policy to influence interest rates and overall financial conditions with the aim of promoting maximum employment and stable prices. The primary tool for doing so is raising or lowering the target range for the effective federal funds rate (EFFR). The EFFR represents the volume-weighted median rate on overnight unsecured transactions in the federal funds market. When the Committee decides to move rates up or down, it is my job to make sure that happens. Ensuring that the EFFR remains within the target range set by the FOMC is what we refer to as 'interest rate control.'"
Perli says, "Administered rates are rates that the Fed directly controls, and two of them are key for monetary policy implementation. One is the interest rate on reserve balances (IORB). The IORB represents the rate paid on reserve balances held at the Fed and is the Fed's main way of influencing the EFFR. The IORB is intended to provide a floor under EFFR, but participants in the federal funds market that do not earn IORB are willing to lend federal funds below that rate. To reinforce the floor the FOMC introduced the overnight reverse repo facility (ON RRP), which is available to a wide range of counterparties that are important in short-term funding markets, particularly Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), and money-market funds (MMFs). The ON RRP offering rate is the second key administered rate for monetary policy implementation."
He continues, "Of course, the federal funds market is just one money market, and it is certainly not the largest. But changes in administered rates typically influence other money markets, and that allows the Federal Reserve to achieve broad rate control. Still, persistent pressure in one money market segment can often be transferred to other segments. In that sense, rate control depends on the smooth functioning of all major segments of money markets."
Perli states, "As I noted in a recent speech, the market for repurchase agreements (or repos) is of particular interest. The repo market is large, of course, but it is also the market in which the Fed conducts temporary open market operations, including those under the ON RRP and the SRF.... I, like many market participants, have observed the greater levels of volatility in overnight repo around financial reporting dates like quarter-end. Since June 2022, when balance sheet runoff began, higher overnight repo rates on such dates have become more common, although the extent of the increases has varied."
He tells us, "Dealers are central players in the Treasury repo market, and, being dealers, they function mostly as intermediaries.... The first segment of the repo market that I want to discuss is the tri-party repo market, which is a client-to-dealer segment where dealers borrow from cash lenders against a generic basket of securities and settle transactions through a third-party. A portion of tri-party repo is centrally-cleared and netted through the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC), while the rest of the market trades bilaterally and is not centrally-cleared and netted. The SRF settles through this uncleared segment of the tri-party repo market. Much of the trading in this segment happens early in the morning but settles in the afternoon; maturities are largely overnight."
Perli explains, "The second segment is the interdealer segment, where dealers trade with each other. These trades are used to redistribute liquidity from dealers with an excess of funding to those with a need. This redistribution supports smooth market functioning by facilitating the movement of aggregate liquidity throughout the financial system. Importantly, these interdealer trades are predominantly cleared and netted via services offered by FICC. Most activity here takes place early in the morning, but, unlike the tri-party segment, it also settles in the morning as opposed to the afternoon."
He adds, "Finally, the third segment is the dealer-to-client repo market, where dealers provide financing to levered market participants, primarily hedge funds. This segment involves mainly bilateral transactions in which counterparties face each other directly. That said, the role of sponsored activity, in which a FICC member will sponsor or guarantee the performance of a client to have the trade cleared at FICC, has been growing significantly in recent years and may well continue to do so. Non-centrally cleared transactions are more likely to be longer maturities compared to the tri-party or interdealer markets. Like the interdealer segment, the bulk of dealer-to-customer activity occurs and settles in the morning."
The speech concludes, "To sum up, maintaining control over short-term interest rates is essential to enabling the FOMC to use monetary policy in furtherance of its dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability. That makes the smooth functioning of money markets more than an esoteric, acronym-riddled island populated by highly specialized market participants and the occasional central banker. It is at the heart of what the Fed does. Consistent with that imperative, the Federal Reserve System, and the New York Fed's Open Market Trading Desk, are constantly scrutinizing money markets for evidence of even minor stress."
Crane Data's latest Money Fund Intelligence International shows that assets in European or "offshore" money market mutual funds moved higher again over the past 30 days to a record $1.406 trillion, while yields moved lower. Assets for USD and EUR rose over the past month while GBP MMFs fell. Like U.S. money fund assets, European MMFs have repeatedly hit record highs in 2023 and 2024. These U.S.-style money funds, domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg and denominated in US Dollars, Pound Sterling and Euros, increased by $41.1 billion over the 30 days through 11/14. The totals are up $208.6 billion (17.4%) year-to-date for 2024, they were up $166.9 billion (16.2%) for the year 2023. (Note that currency moves in the U.S. dollar cause Euro and Sterling totals to shift when they're translated back into totals in U.S. dollars. See our latest MFI International for more on the "offshore" money fund marketplace. These funds are only available to qualified, non-U.S. investors and are almost entirely institutional.)
Offshore US Dollar money funds increased $17.3 billion over the last 30 days and are up $74.7 billion YTD to $724.2 billion; they increased $100.0 billion in 2023. Euro funds increased E23.4 billion over the past month. YTD, they're up E71.1 billion to E306.0 billion, for 2023, they increased by E54.5 billion. GBP money funds decreased L1.9 million over 30 days, and they're up L23.5 billion YTD at L258.9B, for 2023, they fell L28.1 billion. U.S. Dollar (USD) money funds (244) account for over half (51.5%) of the "European" money fund total, while Euro (EUR) money funds (154) make up 24.0% and Pound Sterling (GBP) funds (160) total 24.4%. We summarize our latest "offshore" money fund statistics and our Money Fund Intelligence International Portfolio Holdings (which went out to subscribers Friday), below.
Offshore USD MMFs yield 4.63% (7-Day) on average (as of 11/14/24), down 19 basis points from a month earlier. Yields averaged 4.20% on 12/30/22 and 0.03% on 12/31/21. EUR MMFs, which left negative yield territory in the second half of 2022, yield 3.15% on average, down 24 bps from a month ago and up from 1.48% on 12/30/22 and -0.80% on 12/31/21. Meanwhile, GBP MMFs broke above the 5.0% barrier 15 months ago, but they broke back below 5.0% 4 months ago. They now yield 4.74%, down 16 bps from a month ago, but up from 3.17% on 12/30/22. Sterling yields were 0.01% on 12/31/21.
Crane's October MFI International Portfolio Holdings, with data as of 10/31/24, show that European-domiciled US Dollar MMFs, on average, consist of 26% in Commercial Paper (CP), 15% in Certificates of Deposit (CDs), 22% in Repo, 23% in Treasury securities, 12% in Other securities (primarily Time Deposits) and 2% in Government Agency securities. USD funds have on average 43.6% of their portfolios maturing Overnight, 6.5% maturing in 2-7 Days, 8.9% maturing in 8-30 Days, 9.6% maturing in 31-60 Days, 10.3% maturing in 61-90 Days, 15.3% maturing in 91-180 Days and 5.8% maturing beyond 181 Days. USD holdings are affiliated with the following countries: the US (38.4%), France (12.3%), Japan (9.9%), Canada (8.4%), Australia (5.0%), the U.K. (3.9%), Sweden (3.6%), the Netherlands (3.3%), Finland (2.6%) and Belgium (2.0%).
The 10 Largest Issuers to "offshore" USD money funds include: the US Treasury with $174.7 billion (23.5% of total assets), Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $32.6B (4.4%), Credit Agricole with $24.8B (3.3%), Mizuho Corporate Bank with $18.3B (2.5%), Nordea Bank with $18.1B (2.4%), BNP Paribas with $17.9B (2.4%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc with $17.3B (2.3%), Toronto-Dominion Bank with $16.4B (2.2%), Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd with $15.8B (2.1%) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp with $15.1B (2.0%).
Euro MMFs tracked by Crane Data contain, on average 42% in CP, 21% in CDs, 14% in Other (primarily Time Deposits), 19% in Repo, 3% in Treasuries and 1% in Agency securities. EUR funds have on average 32.9% of their portfolios maturing Overnight, 12.3% maturing in 2-7 Days, 13.5% maturing in 8-30 Days, 7.5% maturing in 31-60 Days, 16.4% maturing in 61-90 Days, 11.3% maturing in 91-180 Days and 6.1% maturing beyond 181 Days. EUR MMF holdings are affiliated with the following countries: France (30.7%), Japan (12.0%), the U.S. (8.3%), Germany (7.4%), Canada (6.4%), the Netherlands (5.3%), the U.K. (5.1%), Austria (4.4%), Australia (3.5%) and Spain (3.3%).
The 10 Largest Issuers to "offshore" EUR money funds include: Credit Agricole with E16.3B (6.2%), BNP Paribas with E13.1B (4.9%), Republic of France with E11.1B (4.2%), Societe Generale with E9.5B (3.6%), JP Morgan with E9.4B (3.6%), Agence Central de Organismes de Securite Sociale with E8.3B (3.1%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc with E8.2B (3.1%), DZ Bank AG with E7.4B (2.8%), Credit Mutuel with E7.3B (2.8%) and Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd with E7.3B (2.8%).
The GBP funds tracked by MFI International contain, on average (as of 10/31/24): 37% in CDs, 20% in CP, 24% in Other (Time Deposits), 16% in Repo, 3% in Treasury and 0% in Agency. Sterling funds have on average 33.6% of their portfolios maturing Overnight, 10.3% maturing in 2-7 Days, 10.6% maturing in 8-30 Days, 6.5% maturing in 31-60 Days, 15.7% maturing in 61-90 Days, 18.2% maturing in 91-180 Days and 5.1% maturing beyond 181 Days. GBP MMF holdings are affiliated with the following countries: France (16.8%), Japan (13.9%), the U.K. (12.6%), Canada (11.8%), Australia (9.6%), the U.S. (8.7%), the Netherlands (4.7%), Singapore (3.4%), Finland (3.2%), and Spain (2.7%).
The 10 Largest Issuers to "offshore" GBP money funds include: UK Treasury with L14.7B (6.2%), BNP Paribas with L11.0B (4.6%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd with L9.7B (4.1%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank with L9.5B (4.0%), Toronto-Dominion Bank with L9.5B (4.0%), JP Morgan with L8.7B (3.7%), RBC with L7.7B (3.2%), Commonwealth Bank of Australia with L7.1B (3.0%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc with L7.0B (3.0%) and National Australia Bank Ltd with L6.9B (2.9%).
In related news, S&P Global Ratings published "European 'AAAm' Money Market Fund Trends (Third Quarter 2024)," which says, "Rated Europe-domiciled MMFs reported all-time highs as of Sept. 30, 2024, with assets under management (AUM) of €231 billion for euro-denominated funds and $657 billion for U.S. dollar-denominated funds.... Sterling-denominated funds recorded 2024 highs, with £237 billion in AUM, even though this is 10% below their record AUM level in October 2022. Net assets in all three currencies increased over the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2024, with euro-denominated funds up 61.3%, sterling-denominated funds up 14.7%, and U.S. dollar-denominated funds up 13.1%."
The piece explains, "Since yield curves for money market maturities are inverted across all three currencies, short-dated and high-credit-quality MMFs that offer returns close to or above the respective central bank base rate remain attractive to investors. Yet this appeal may reduce as central banks cut interest rates in the third quarter.... This led to a decline in U.S. dollar-denominated funds' average seven-day net yield by 34 bps.... The European Central Bank also decreased its deposit rate by 25 bps to 3.5% in early September, following a similar move in June. The Bank of England cut interest rates to 5% on Aug. 1, 2024 -- the first interest rate cut in over four years -- with seven-day net yields declining by 17 bps in the third quarter."
It adds, "The weighted average maturity (WAM) of MMFs declined by an average of five days in the third quarter. Euro-denominated funds' WAMs reduced to 33 days, from 40 days in June 2024, while the WAMs of sterling- and U.S. dollar-denominated funds decreased to 40 and 35 days, respectively, from 44 and 41 days in June 2024. Given the inverted yield curve and tight spreads, extending duration profiles does not generate any perceived value to the rate of return."
The November issue of our Bond Fund Intelligence, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the stories, "Bond Funds Hit by Election Inflation Fears, But Inflows," which reviews the recent jump in bond yields, and "ETF Trends: MM Substitutes, Ultra-Shorts; Steepener," which covers the expected shift into ultra-shorts. BFI also recaps the latest Bond Fund News and includes our Crane BFI Indexes, which show that bond fund returns fell in October while yields were higher. We excerpt from the new issue below. (Contact us if you'd like to see our latest Bond Fund Intelligence and BFI XLS spreadsheet, or our Bond Fund Portfolio Holdings data.) (Note: See also Bloomberg's "A $7 Trillion and Growing Cash Pile Defies Wall Street Skeptics.")
BFI's "Bond Funds Hit" article states, "While bond funds continued to see strong inflows in October, bond returns and assets fell in anticipation of and following the election. Bond funds declined by 1.14% on average after 5 months of gains, while total bond fund assets fell by $18.6 billion to $2.836 trillion, according to Bond Fund Intelligence."
The piece says, "The New York Times writes 'Lower Rates, Rising Yields: What to Make of the Bond Market Right Now,' which tells us, 'There is an adage in markets that stock investors are optimists and bond investors are pessimists. As the ticker tape adjusted on Wednesday to Donald J. Trump's victory, stocks soared in a sign of bullish enthusiasm for his policies of tax cuts, deregulation and stimulative government spending (as well as relief that the election had concluded with a clear winner).'"
Our "MM Substitutes" article states, 'Investors have been married to their money market funds for the better part of the last two years. But a recent poll from VettaFi's Q4 Fixed Income Symposium in October showed more market participants may finally be willing to break out of their comfort zones and redeploy those funds into riskier assets. 76% of advisors said they were looking to cut back their allocation to money market funds in the next 12 months. This is a move that has arguably been long overdue.'"
It states, "They tell us, 'Plenty of cash will likely remain in money market funds even after some reallocation. Short duration products still offer attractive real positive yields, so the cost of staying short is not particularly high. Even if investors start to funnel more cash into other financial assets, it may take a while to make a significant dent in the record $6 trillion of cash still parked on the sidelines. Meanwhile, short Treasury bond ETFs, floating-rate instruments and ultra-short term structured products can all offer attractive money market fund-like alternatives.'"
Our first News brief, "Returns Lower, Yields Jump in Oct," explains, "Bond fund returns were lower in October after 5 straight months of gains. Yields jumped. Our BFI Total Index fell 1.14% over 1-month but are up 10.39% over 12 months. (Money funds rose 5.21% over 1-year as measured by our Crane 100 Index.) The BFI 100 decreased 1.56% in Oct. but rose 10.72% over 12 mos. Our BFI Conservative Ultra-Short Index was up 0.25% over 1-month and 6.26% for 1-year; Ultra-Shorts rose 0.18% and 6.77%. Short-Term returned -0.54% and 7.87%, and Intm-Term fell 2.11% in Oct. and rose 10.99%. BFI’s Long-Term Index was down 2.46% and up 12.79%. High Yield fell 0.31% in Oct. and rose 13.74% for 12 mos."
A second News brief, "A Barron's Piece, 'Schwab to Launch New Active Bond Fund Amid Banner Year for ETFs,' explains, 'Charles Schwab plans to launch a new actively-managed fixed income exchange-traded fund, which comes as the asset management industry is placing greater emphasis on packaging active strategies in an ETF format. The Schwab Core Bond ETF will be the company's third active ETF. The Core Bond ETF seeks to provide total return while generating income through investing in U.S. debt securities, such as corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and Treasuries, according to the company's filing with the SEC.'"
Our next News brief, "Morningstar Writes on '2 Top-Performing Core Bond Funds,' tells us, 'With the Federal Reserve moving to cut interest rates, core bond funds (a key building block of most portfolios) are posting modest gains in 2024.... We looked for the top-performing intermediate core bond funds over the last one-, three-, and five-year periods. Two funds made it through the screen, both of which are actively managed: Baird Aggregate Bond Inst (BAGIX) and JPMorgan Mortgage-Backed Securities I (OMBIX).'"
A BFI sidebar, "Bond Funds to Benefit," says, "Morningstar writes on '3 Bond Funds That Could Benefit from a Fall in Long-Term Yields.' The article explains, 'Here are three intermediate core-plus bond funds that have maintained above-average durations and stand to benefit more than their peers if yields fall. TCW MetWest Total Return Bond's (MWTRX) investment process touts a sensible balance between flexibility and discipline. This fund ... is benchmarked against the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index, but its managers actively adjust duration relative to the index and have the flexibility to invest outside the benchmark.'"
Finally, another sidebar, "Federated Q3 Earnings," tells readers, "Federated Hermes reported Q3'24 earnings late last month. On the call, President & CEO J. Christopher Donahue comments, 'Turning now to fixed income, assets increased by about $4.9 billion in Q3 to a record high of $100.2 billion. Fixed income funds had Q3 net sales of $305 million, and fixed income separate accounts had net sales of $1.1 billion. Total fixed income net sales, therefore were $1.4 billion compared to $1.4 billion of net redemptions in the second quarter. Fixed income fund net sales were driven by about $515 million of combined net sales in total return bond fund, ETF and collective investment fund. Fixed income separate account net sales were driven by institutional multi-sector strategies and by the Core Plus SMA strategy.'"
Money market mutual fund assets broke the $7.0 trillion barrier for the first time ever on Wednesday, Nov. 13, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets have jumped following the Federal Reserve's 25 basis point rate cut last Thursday (11/7), increasing by $91.4 billion in the week through Wednesday to a record $7.001 trillion. Money fund assets have increased by $147.3 billion in November month-to-date through 11/13, and they have increased by $709.4 billion (11.3%) year-to-date in 2024. (Note: Register soon for our "basic training" event, Money Fund University, which takes place Dec. 19-20 in Providence, RI, and please join us there for Crane Data's Holiday, and now $7 Trillion, Party!)
Assets rose by $97.5 billion in October, $149.8 billion in September, $109.7 billion in August, $16.6 billion in July, $15.7 billion in June and $91.4 billion in May. They declined by $15.8 billion in April and $68.8 billion in March. They rose $72.1 billion in February, $93.9 billion in January, $32.7 billion in December and $226.4 billion last November. Watch for ICI's latest "Money Market Fund Assets" report to show money fund assets hitting yet another record later today once they're published. Note that `Crane Data's asset totals include a number of funds tracked by the SEC but not reported to ICI, so our data is about $350 billion higher than ICI's asset series.
Money market mutual fund assets broke the $6.0 trillion barrier in August 2023. (See Crane Data's 9/28/23 News, "Sept. MFI: Assets Break $6.0 Trillion; Dechert on Reforms; 15 Years Ago.") They rose above $5.0 trillion for the first time in April 2020 (see our 4/30/20 News, "Money Fund Assets Break $5.0 Trillion; Crane Featured in Ignites Piece"), but needed a couple more years to retake that level for good. Assets rose back above $5.0 trillion in October 2021, then again in July 2022. Assets broke the $4.0 trillion level in March 2020 during the Covid asset super-spike. (See our 3/10/20 News, "MMF Yields, Sweep Rates Slide, MFID Assets Hit $4.0 Tril; N-MFP Holdings.")
Money fund assets first rose above $3.0 trillion in January 2008 as the Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates to near zero, and it took until December 2017 to reclaim the $3.0 trillion level. (Assets declined by over $1.0 trillion from 2008 through 2011, then remained flat for about 7 years after rates bottomed at zero.) Assets rose above $2.0 trillion in 2001 and again in 2006 (Crane Data launched in 2006), and they broke the $1.0 trillion level in 1997 (looking back at ICI annual data). We expect assets to continue higher in coming weeks as funds benefit from MMFs "lag effect" vs. the direct money market, and as funds benefit from the strongest two months of the year (Nov. and Dec.) seasonally.
In other news, S&P Global Ratings published "U.S. Domestic 'AAAm' Money Market Fund Trends (Third-Quarter 2024)" earlier this week, which tells us, "Rated MMF assets grew 7% over the quarter, with flows primarily into rated government funds. However, total assets in rated prime MMFs decreased roughly 5% from the prior quarter. This unique decline was mainly a function of fund sponsors consolidating or eliminating their institutional prime offerings. Among the sponsors S&P Global Ratings covers, 10 prime MMFs were liquidated or merged into an existing government strategy. With adjustments to consider only the remaining rated prime funds quarter over quarter, assets increased 2%."
It continues, Prime fund closures were one of the driving factors of flows into rated government funds. Additionally, MMFs, whether government or prime, continued to provide a higher yield than other liquidity options, such as stand-alone treasury bills and bank deposits, to house short-term cash. We do not expect further material effects from the latest 2a-7 SEC reforms by the Securities and Exchange Commission now that they are in effect."
S&P writes, "Seven-day net yields decreased for rated government and prime MMFs following the start of the Federal Reserve (Fed)'s interest-rate-cutting cycle.... Ultimately, the Fed voted on a 50-bps cut in September, while S&P Global Ratings economists expect further 25-bps increments and the terminal rate to settle at 3.00%-3.25% by year-end 2025.... Seven-day net yields for rated government and prime MMFs dropped 33 bps and 34 bps, respectively."
They comment, "Average repurchase agreement (repo) exposure in rated government MMFs decreased slightly over the quarter, to 41% from 43%. Usage of the Fed's reverse repo program (RRP) remained muted relative to prior quarters, with a minor uptick for quarter-end liquidity. Managers opted to purchase more treasury bills, given higher supply, and U.S. agency notes. They also added to their floating-rate exposure, especially agency floaters, citing relative value in this part of the market."
S&P adds, "Exposure to treasury bills and certificates of deposits (CDs) in rated prime MMFs decreased. Managers re-allocated to commercial paper and asset-backed commercial paper. Corporate bond exposure also increased to the highest level so far in 2024, at just over 4% on average. Managers of rated government and prime MMFs kept maturity profiles short, citing more value on shorter parts of the yield curve."
They write, "Average weighted-average maturities (WAMs) decreased by roughly five days versus the second quarter for rated government funds. Rated prime fund WAMs saw an upward spike early in the quarter due to certain funds closing and rolling into overnight securities. After these closures, prime fund WAMs normalized. We anticipate overall maturity profiles will begin to increase based on the Fed rate path and dependent on yield curve normalization.... The distribution of net asset values (NAVs) per share for rated MMFs was generally stable, with most of the movement being on the upside. At quarter-end, the range for rated fund NAVs was 0.9995-1.0011."
Crane Data's November Money Fund Portfolio Holdings, with data as of Oct. 31, 2024, show that Treasuries jumped sharply while Repo holdings dropped last month. Money market securities held by Taxable U.S. money funds (tracked by Crane Data) increased by $82.8 billion to $6.810 trillion in October, after increasing $233.8 billion in September, $57.2 billion in August and $90.4 billion in July. Taxable holdings decreasing by $0.4 billion in June, increased $105.6 billion in May, but decreased $61.4 billion in April. Treasuries, now the largest segment, increased $236.2 billion in October after increasing $92.0 billion in September, but decreasing $40.2 billion in August and $21.5 billion in July. Repo decreased by $242.8 billion, moving it down to the No. 2 spot for largest portfolio segment. Agencies were the third largest segment, CP remained fourth, ahead of CDs, Other/Time Deposits and VRDNs. Below, we review our latest Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics. (Visit our Content center to download, or contact us to request our latest Portfolio Holdings reports.) (Note: Register soon for our "basic training" event, Money Fund University, which takes place Dec. 19-20 in Providence, R.I.)
Among taxable money funds, Repurchase Agreements (repo) decreased $242.8 billion (-9.1%) to $2.427 trillion, or 35.6% of holdings, in October, after increasing $151.7 billion in September, but decreasing $40.2 billion in August and $21.5 billion in July. They increased $99.3 billion in June. Treasury securities increased $236.2 billion (9.0%) to $2.867 trillion, or 42.1% of holdings, after increasing $92.0 billion in September, $85.8 billion in August and $24.3 billion in July. T-bills decreased $17.3 billion in June. Government Agency Debt was up $70.3 billion, or 9.0%, to $849.3 billion, or 12.5% of holdings. Agencies increased $20.9 billion in September, $11.2 billion in August and $22.9 billion in July. Repo, Treasuries and Agency holdings now total $6.143 trillion, representing a massive 90.2% of all taxable holdings.
Money fund holdings of Other (Time Deposits), CD and CP all rose in October. Commercial Paper (CP) increased $12.2 billion (4.3%) to $293.8 billion, or 4.3% of holdings. CP holdings increased $0.3 billion in September, $4.5 billion in August and $8.2 billion in July. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) increased $2.1 billion (1.2%) to $187.2 billion, or 2.7% of taxable assets. CDs decreased $1.7 billion in September and $13.9 billion in August, but increased $6.9 billion in July. Other holdings, primarily Time Deposits, increased $3.9 billion (2.3%) to $172.0 billion, or 2.5% of holdings, after decreasing $29.4 billion in September, increasing $9.3 billion in August and $49.0 billion in July. VRDNs increased to $13.9 billion, or 0.2% of assets. (Note: This total is VRDNs for taxable funds only. We will post our Tax Exempt MMF holdings separately Wednesday around noon.)
Prime money fund assets tracked by Crane Data increased to $1.165 trillion, or 17.1% of taxable money funds' $6.810 trillion total. Among Prime money funds, CDs represent 16.1% (down from 16.3% a month ago), while Commercial Paper accounted for 25.3% (up from 24.8% in September). The CP totals are comprised of: Financial Company CP, which makes up 17.2% of total holdings, Asset-Backed CP, which accounts for 6.7%, and Non-Financial Company CP, which makes up 1.4%. Prime funds also hold 0.5% in US Govt Agency Debt, 5.8% in US Treasury Debt, 18.4% in US Treasury Repo, 0.9% in Other Instruments, 11.7% in Non-Negotiable Time Deposits, 7.8% in Other Repo, 12.4% in US Government Agency Repo and 0.9% in VRDNs.
Government money fund portfolios totaled $3.755 trillion (55.1% of all MMF assets), up from $3.679 trillion in September, while Treasury money fund assets totaled another $1.891 trillion (27.8%), down from $1.912 trillion the prior month. Government money fund portfolios were made up of 22.5% US Govt Agency Debt, 15.7% US Government Agency Repo, 36.5% US Treasury Debt, 24.7% in US Treasury Repo, 0.4% in Other Instruments. Treasury money funds were comprised of 75.7% US Treasury Debt and 24.2% in US Treasury Repo. Government and Treasury funds combined now total $5.645 trillion, or 82.9% of all taxable money fund assets.
European-affiliated holdings (including repo) increased by $76.1 billion in October to $774.4 billion; their share of holdings rose to 11.4% from last month's 10.4%. Eurozone-affiliated holdings increased to $520.7 billion from last month's $480.4 billion; they account for 7.7% of overall taxable money fund holdings. Asia & Pacific related holdings rose to $315.7 billion (4.6% of the total) from last month's $298.8 billion. Americas related holdings fell to $5.714 trillion from last month's $5.724 trillion, and now represent 83.9% of holdings.
The overall taxable fund Repo totals were made up of: US Treasury Repurchase Agreements (down $245.3 billion, or -13.3%, to $1.598 trillion, or 23.5% of assets); US Government Agency Repurchase Agreements (down $8.1 billion, or -1.1%, to $733.0 billion, or 10.8% of total holdings), and Other Repurchase Agreements (up $10.6 billion, or 12.3%, from last month to $96.5 billion, or 1.4% of holdings). The Commercial Paper totals were comprised of Financial Company Commercial Paper (up $11.1 billion to $200.2 billion, or 2.9% of assets), Asset Backed Commercial Paper (down $0.4 billion at $77.5 billion, or 1.1%), and Non-Financial Company Commercial Paper (up $1.5 billion to $16.1 billion, or 0.2%).
The 20 largest Issuers to taxable money market funds as of Oct. 31, 2024, include: the US Treasury ($2.867T, 42.1%), Fixed Income Clearing Corp ($776.9B, 11.4%), Federal Home Loan Bank ($639.6B, 9.4%), JP Morgan ($176.2B, 2.6%), the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ($173.6B, or 2.5%), Citi ($161.0B, 2.4%), BNP Paribas ($156.3B, 2.3%), RBC ($148.9B, 2.2%), Federal Farm Credit Bank ($147.1B, 2.2%), Goldman Sachs ($116.2B, 1.7%), Barclays PLC ($106.3B, 1.6%), Bank of America ($103.7B, 1.5%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($79.3B, 1.2%), Wells Fargo ($71.1B, 1.0%), Credit Agricole ($67.9B, 1.0%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp ($63.3B, 0.9%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($60.2B, 0.9%), Societe Generale ($51.1B, 0.7%), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ($50.8B, 0.7%) and Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd ($44.3B, 0.7%).
In the repo space, the 10 largest Repo counterparties (dealers) with the amount of repo outstanding and market share (among the money funds we track) include: Fixed Income Clearing Corp ($754.5B, 31.1%), the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ($173.6B, 7.2%), JP Morgan ($167.6B, 6.9%), Citi ($149.5B, 6.2%), BNP Paribas ($145.7B, 6.0%), RBC ($116.0B, 4.8%), Goldman Sachs ($115.6B, 4.8%), Barclays PLC ($95.3B, 3.9%), Bank of America ($83.4B, 3.4%) and Wells Fargo ($68.4B, 2.8%).
The largest users of the $173.6 billion in Fed RRP include: Fidelity Cash Central Fund ($35.7B), Fidelity Sec Lending Cash Central Fund ($16.5B), Vanguard Federal Money Mkt Fund ($13.3B), Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($13.0B), Dreyfus Treas Obligations Cash Mgmt ($8.0B), Goldman Sachs FS Treas Sol ($7.8B), Vanguard Market Liquidity Fund ($6.4B), American Funds Central Cash ($6.1B), Dreyfus Inst Pref Govt MMF ($6.0B) and Columbia Short-Term Cash Fund ($5.9B).
The 10 largest issuers of "credit" -- CDs, CP and Other securities (including Time Deposits and Notes) combined -- include: Toronto-Dominion Bank ($33.2B, 5.6%), RBC ($32.9B, 5.6%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd ($29.8B, 5.0%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($29.7B, 5.0%), Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd ($25.4B, 4.3%), DNB ASA ($24.5B, 4.1%), ING Bank ($22.8B, 3.9%), Fixed Income Clearing Corp ($22.4B, 3.8%), Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB ($22.1B, 3.7%) and Bank of America ($20.3B, 3.4%).
The 10 largest CD issuers include: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($22.8B, 12.2%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank ($15.9B, 8.5%), Bank of America ($13.4B, 7.2%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd ($12.3B, 6.6%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($11.6B, 6.2%), Credit Agricole ($10.6B, 5.7%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp ($10.0B, 5.4%), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ($8.0B, 4.3%), Bank of Nova Scotia ($6.4B, 3.4%) and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation ($5.8B, 3.1%).
The 10 largest CP issuers (we include affiliated ABCP programs) include: RBC ($22.4B, 8.2%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($21.5B, 7.9%), Bank of Montreal ($14.2B, 5.2%), Barclays PLC ($10.4B, 3.8%), Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd ($10.4B, 3.8%), DNB ASA ($9.4B, 3.4%), Citi ($8.8B, 3.2%), JP Morgan ($8.6B, 3.2%), ING Bank ($8.6B, 3.1%) and Bank of Nova Scotia ($8.4B, 3.1%).
The largest increases among Issuers include: US Treasury (up $236.2B to $2.867T), Federal Home Loan Bank (up $39.7B to $639.6B), Barclays PLC (up $30.0B to $106.3B), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (up $19.8B to $38.3B), Credit Agricole (up $19.1B to $67.9B), Erste Group Bank AG (up $10.2B to $11.2B), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd (up $9.8B to $44.3B), Societe Generale (up $9.4B to $51.1B), Citi (up $9.0B to $161.0B) and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (up $6.5B to $36.1B).
The largest decreases among Issuers of money market securities (including Repo) in October were shown by: Federal Reserve Bank of New York (down $255.0B to $173.6B), JP Morgan (down $25.2B to $176.2B), Goldman Sachs (down $12.9B to $116.2B), Fixed Income Clearing Corp (down $12.7B to $776.9B), Bank of Montreal (down $7.8B to $43.7B), RBC (down $4.4B to $148.9B), National Bank of Canada (down $4.3B to $7.6B), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (down $4.2B to $50.8B), Nomura (down $3.1B to $26.0B) and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (down $2.8B to $9.5B).
The United States remained the largest segment of country-affiliations; it represents 78.8% of holdings, or $5.369 trillion. Canada (5.1%, $345.4B) was in second place, while France (4.7%, $322.5B) was No. 3. Japan (4.1%, $278.4B) occupied fourth place. The United Kingdom (2.6%, $175.7B) remained in fifth place. Australia (0.9%, $60.2B) was in sixth place, followed by Netherlands (0.8%, $56.6B), Germany (0.7%, $44.8B), Sweden (0.6%, $40.5B), and Spain (0.4%, $30.2B). (Note: Crane Data attributes Treasury and Government repo to the dealer's parent country of origin, though money funds themselves "look-through" and consider these U.S. government securities. All money market securities must be U.S. dollar-denominated.)
As of Oct. 31, 2024, Taxable money funds held 44.7% (down from 51.1%) of their assets in securities maturing Overnight, and another 11.5% maturing in 2-7 days (up from 10.3%). Thus, 56.2% in total matures in 1-7 days. Another 10.1% matures in 8-30 days, while 10.8% matures in 31-60 days. Note that over three-quarters, or 77.0% of securities, mature in 60 days or less, the dividing line for use of amortized cost accounting under SEC regulations. The next bucket, 61-90 days, holds 8.0% of taxable securities, while 11.7% matures in 91-180 days, and just 3.3% matures beyond 181 days.
Crane Data's latest monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics will be sent out Tuesday, and we'll be writing our regular monthly update on the new October 31 data for Wednesday's News. But we also already uploaded a separate and broader Portfolio Holdings data set based on the SEC's Form N-MFP filings on Friday. (We continue to merge the two series, and the N-MFP version is now available via our Portfolio Holdings file listings to Money Fund Wisdom subscribers.) Our new N-MFP summary, with data as of October 31, includes holdings information from 984 money funds (down 27 from last month), representing assets of $6.925 trillion (up from $6.872 trillion). Prime MMFs rose to $1.158 trillion (up from $1.139 trillion), or 16.7% of the total. We review the new N-MFP data, and we also look at our revised MMF expense data, which shows charged expenses were mostly flat and money fund revenues rose to $18.5 billion (annualized) in October. (Note: We're still adjusting to the SEC's new Form N-MFP format, so there continue to be some distortions in our data. Let us know if you see any issues or questions!)
Our latest Form N-MFP Summary for All Funds (taxable and tax-exempt) shows Treasuries and Repurchase Agreements (Repo) remain the largest types of portfolio holdings in money market funds. Treasury holdings in money market funds now total $2.632 trillion (up from $2.402 trillion), or 38.0% of all assets, while Repo holdings fell to $2.217 trillion (down from $2.478 billion), or 32.0% of all holdings. Government Agency securities total $813.2 billion (up from $757.6 billion), or 11.7%. Holdings of Treasuries, Government agencies and Repo (almost all of which is backed by Treasuries and agencies) combined total $5.663 trillion, or a massive 81.7% of all holdings.
The Other category (primarily Time Deposits) totals $696.2 billion (up from $689.9 billion), or 10.1%, and Commercial paper (CP) totals $270.3 billion (up from $256.0 billion), or 3.9% of all holdings. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) total $161.0 billion (up from $158.3 billion), 2.3%, and VRDNs account for $134.8 billion (up from $129.5 billion), or 1.9% of money fund securities. (Note: We believe our "Other" totals are still too high and we expect to adjust these as we recategorize some of the underlying holdings.)
Broken out into the SEC's more detailed categories, the CP totals were comprised of: $179.5 billion, or 2.6%, in Financial Company Commercial Paper; $66.0 billion or 1.0%, in Asset Backed Commercial Paper; and, $24.8 billion, or 0.4%, in Non-Financial Company Commercial Paper. The Repo totals were made up of: U.S. Treasury Repo ($1.451 trillion, or 21.0%), U.S. Govt Agency Repo ($680.7B, or 9.8%) and Other Repo ($85.2B, or 1.2%).
The N-MFP Holdings summary for the Prime Money Market Funds shows: CP holdings of $259.6 billion (up from $246.0 billion), or 22.4%; Repo holdings of $421.0 billion (down from $463.9 billion), or 36.4%; Treasury holdings of $62.0 billion (up from $16.6 billion), or 5.4%; CD holdings of $160.9 billion (up from $158.3 billion), or 13.9%; Other (primarily Time Deposits) holdings of $239.1 billion (down from $239.9 billion), or 20.7%; Government Agency holdings of $5.2 billion (unchanged from $5.2 billion), or 0.4% and VRDN holdings of $9.9 billion (up from $9.2 billion), or 0.9%.
The SEC's more detailed categories show CP in Prime MMFs made up of: $179.4 billion (up from $168.7 billion), or 15.5%, in Financial Company Commercial Paper; $65.3 billion (up from $62.4 billion), or 5.6%, in Asset Backed Commercial Paper; and $14.9 billion (up from $14.8 billion), or 1.3%, in Non-Financial Company Commercial Paper. The Repo totals include: U.S. Treasury Repo ($201.5 billion, or 17.4%), U.S. Govt Agency Repo ($139.7 billion, or 12.1%), and Other Repo ($79.9 billion, or 6.9%).
In related news, money fund charged expense ratios (Exp%) were mostly flat in October. Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index and Crane Money Fund Average were 0.27% and 0.38%, respectively, as of Oct. 31, 2024. Crane Data revises its monthly expense data and gross yield information after the SEC updates its latest Form N-MFP data the morning of the 6th business day of the new month. (They posted this info Friday morning, so we revised our monthly MFI XLS spreadsheet and historical craneindexes.xlsx averages file to reflect the latest expenses, gross yields, portfolio composition and maturity breakout.) Visit our "Content" page for the latest files.
Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index, a simple average of the 100 largest taxable money funds, shows an average charged expense ratio of 0.27%, unchanged from last month's level (also 19 bps higher than 12/31/21's 0.08%). The Crane Money Fund Average, a simple average of all taxable MMFs, showed a charged expense ratio of 0.38% as of Oct. 31, 2024, unchanged from the month prior and slightly below the 0.40% at year-end 2019.
Prime Inst MFs expense ratios (annualized) average 0.22% (down 4 bps from last month), Government Inst MFs expenses average 0.26% (unchanged from last month), Treasury Inst MFs expenses average 0.29% (down 1 bps from last month). Treasury Retail MFs expenses currently sit at 0.53%, (unchanged from last month), Government Retail MFs expenses yield 0.53% (down 1 bp from last month). Prime Retail MF expenses averaged 0.50% (up 1 bp from last month). Tax-exempt expenses were also down 1 bp at 0.39% on average.
Gross 7-day yields were down during the month ended October 31, 2024. The Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 718), shows a 7-day gross yield of 4.91%, down 10 bps from the prior month. The Crane Money Fund Average was 1.72% at the end of 2019, 0.15% at the end of 2020 and 0.09% at the end of 2021. Our Crane 100's 7-day gross yield was also down 10 bps, ending the month at 4.91%.
According to our revised MFI XLS and Crane Index numbers, we now estimate that annualized revenue for all money funds is $18.473 billion (as of 10/31/24), a new record high. Our estimated annualized revenue totals increased from $18.265B last month, and are still higher from the $17.620B seen two months ago. Revenue levels are more than six times larger than May's 2021's record-low $2.927B level. Charged expenses and gross yields are driven by a number of variables, but revenues should continue their climb higher as inflows resume to money funds following a pause around April 15.
Crane Data's latest monthly Money Fund Market Share rankings show assets increasing among most of the largest U.S. money fund complexes in October, after rising in September, August, July, June and May. Assets fell in March and April. Money market fund assets rose by $88.9 billion, or 1.3%, last month to a record $6.863 trillion. Total MMF assets have increased by $349.5 billion, or 5.4%, over the past 3 months, and they've increased by $802.4 billion, or 13.2%, over the past 12 months. The largest increases among the 25 largest managers last month were seen by Goldman Sachs, JPM, Schwab, Morgan Stanley and First American, which grew assets by $21.6 billion, $14.1B, $13.1B, $10.0B and $9.2B, respectively. Declines in October were seen by American Funds, Vanguard, RBC, Fidelity and Columbia, which decreased by $11.3 billion, $3.8B, $2.1B, $1.3B and $807M, respectively. Our domestic U.S. "Family" rankings are available in our MFI XLS product, our global rankings are available in our MFI International product. The combined "Family & Global Rankings" are available to Money Fund Wisdom subscribers. We review the latest market share totals, and look at money fund yields, which were lower in October.
Over the past year through Oct. 31, 2024, Fidelity (up $204.8B, or 17.0%), Schwab (up $120.1B, or 26.4%), BlackRock (up $97.9B, or 20.3%), JPMorgan (up $95.3B, or 15.6%) and Vanguard (up $76.3B, or 14.1%) were the `largest gainers. Fidelity, BlackRock, SSGA, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, and had the largest asset increases over the past 3 months, rising by $77.2B, $52.0B, $46.2B, $40.2B and $37.2B, respectively. The largest declines over 12 months were seen by: American Funds (down $28.0B), Invesco (down $13.9B), PGIM (down $7.6B), RBC (down $2.6B) and HSBC (down $2.3B). The largest declines over 3 months included: American Funds (down $22.0B) and PGIM (down $1.7B).
Our latest domestic U.S. Money Fund Family Rankings show that Fidelity Investments remains the largest money fund manager with $1.409 trillion, or 20.5% of all assets. Fidelity was down $1.3B in October, up $77.2 billion over 3 mos., and up $204.8B over 12 months. JPMorgan ranked second with $705.1 billion, or 10.3% market share (up $14.1B, up $37.2B and up $95.3B for the past 1-month, 3-mos. and 12-mos., respectively). Vanguard ranked in third place with $616.5 billion, or 9.0% of assets (down $3.8B, up $10.0B and up $76.3B). BlackRock ranked fourth with $578.8 billion, or 8.4% market share (up $1.2B, up $52.0B and up $97.9B), while Schwab was the fifth largest MMF manager with $575.2 billion, or 8.4% of assets (up $13.1B, up $30.4B and up $120.1B for the past 1-month, 3-mos. and 12-mos.).
Federated Hermes was in sixth place with $459.2 billion, or 6.7% (up $4.9B, up $11.4B and up $36.8B), while Goldman Sachs was in seventh place with $430.2 billion, or 6.3% of assets (up $21.6B, up $40.2B and up $24.2B). Dreyfus ($288.1B, or 4.2%) was in eighth place (up $5.4B, up $18.2B and up $38.8B), followed by SSGA ($261.5B, or 3.8%; up $1.7B, up $46.2B and up $66.3B). Morgan Stanley was in 10th place ($258.4B, or 3.8%; up $10.0B, up $17.2B and up $11.0B).
The 11th through 20th-largest U.S. money fund managers (in order) include: Allspring (formerly Wells Fargo) ($201.4B, or 2.9%), Northern ($176.3B, or 2.6%), First American ($158.0B, or 2.3%), American Funds ($146.6B, or 2.1%), Invesco ($126.9B, or 1.8%), UBS ($111.2B, or 1.6%), T. Rowe Price ($51.2B, or 0.7%), HSBC ($41.8B, or 0.6%), DWS ($41.1B, or 0.6%) and Western ($32.4B, or 0.5%). Crane Data currently tracks 61 U.S. MMF managers, unchanged from last month.
When European and "offshore" money fund assets -- those domiciled in places like Ireland, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands -- are included, the top 10 managers are the same as the domestic list, except: BlackRock moves up to the No. 3 spot, and Vanguard moves down to No. 4. Goldman Sachs moves up to the No. 6 spot, while Federated Hermes moves down to the No. 7 spot. Morgan Stanley moves up to the No. 8 spot while Dreyfus moves down to the No. 9 spot and SSGA moves down to the No. 10 spot. Global Money Fund Manager Rankings include the combined market share assets of our MFI XLS (domestic U.S.) and our MFI International ("offshore") products.
The largest Global money market fund families include: Fidelity ($1.427 trillion), JP Morgan ($953.4B), BlackRock ($875.0B), Vanguard ($616.5B) and Schwab ($575.2B). Goldman Sachs ($573.2B) was in sixth, Federated Hermes ($471.1B) was seventh, followed by Morgan Stanley ($343.2B), Dreyfus/BNY Mellon ($314.6B) and SSGA ($314.2B), which round out the top 10. These totals include "offshore" U.S. Dollar money funds, as well as Euro and Pound Sterling (GBP) funds converted into U.S. dollar totals.
The November issue of our Money Fund Intelligence and MFI XLS, with data as of 10/31/24, shows that yields were lower in October across most Crane Money Fund Indexes. The Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds covered by Crane Data (currently 718), was 4.55% (down 9 bps) for the 7-Day Yield (annualized, net) Average, the 30-Day Yield was also down 23 bps at 4.58%. The MFA's Gross 7-Day Yield was at 4.92% (down 9 bps), and the Gross 30-Day Yield was down 23 bps at 4.96%. (Gross yields will be revised once we download the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 10/31/24 on Friday.)
Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index shows an average 7-Day (Net) Yield of 4.64% (down 10 bps) and an average 30-Day Yield at 4.68% (down 26 bps). The Crane 100 shows a Gross 7-Day Yield of 4.91% (down 10 bps), and a Gross 30-Day Yield of 4.95% (down 26 bps). Our Prime Institutional MF Index (7-day) yielded 4.80% (unchanged) as of Oct. 31. The Crane Govt Inst Index was at 4.66% (down 8 bps) and the Treasury Inst Index was at 4.59% (down 13 bps). Thus, the spread between Prime funds and Treasury funds is 21 basis points, and the spread between Prime funds and Govt funds is 14 basis points. The Crane Prime Retail Index yielded 4.53% (down 7 bps), while the Govt Retail Index was 4.37% (down 7 bps), the Treasury Retail Index was 4.35% (down 14 bps from the month prior). The Crane Tax Exempt MF Index yielded 3.08% (up 14 bps) as of October.
Gross 7-Day Yields for these indexes to end October were: Prime Inst 5.02% (down 4 bps), Govt Inst 4.92% (down 8 bps), Treasury Inst 4.89% (down 14 bps), Prime Retail 5.03% (down 6 bps), Govt Retail 4.92% (down 7 bps) and Treasury Retail 4.88% (down 14 bps). The Crane Tax Exempt Index rose to 3.48% (up 13 bps). The Crane 100 MF Index returned on average 0.40% over 1-month, 1.25% over 3-months, 4.17% YTD, 5.21% over the past 1-year, 3.51% over 3-years (annualized), 2.23% over 5-years, and 1.55% over 10-years.
The total number of funds, including taxable and tax-exempt, was unchanged in October at 833. There are currently 718 taxable funds, up 5 from the previous month, and 115 tax-exempt money funds (down 5 from last month). (Contact us if you'd like to see our latest MFI XLS, Crane Indexes or Market Share report.)
The November issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Thursday morning, features the articles: "Tokenized Money Funds Gain Momentum; Issues Remain," which reviews the latest releases and news on MMFs on the blockchain; "Federated Hermes, Schwab Earnings Calls Highlight MMFs," which quotes from recent earnings call MMF comments; and, "BNY, UBS Latest to Liquidate Municipal Money Funds," which recaps the thinning among Tax-Exempt Money Funds. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Thursday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 10/31/24 data. Our Nov. Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Tuesday, November 12, and our Nov. Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Friday, November 15 (a day late due to the Veterans Day Holiday). (Note: Please join us for our "basic training" event, Money Fund University, which takes place Dec. 19-20 in Providence, R.I.)
MFI's "Tokenized Money Funds" article says, "We've seen more `press releases and articles on tokenized money market funds in the last month than we've seen over the previous year. While most tout the promise, major obstacles remain before tokenized money funds become more than just an experiment. The Block writes, 'Regulatory uncertainty is a barrier to the institutional adoption of tokenized money market funds: analyst,' which says, 'The risk of adverse regulatory intervention remains a major obstacle to the broader adoption of tokenized money market funds among institutional players, an analyst said.'"
It continues, "They quote, 'Tokenized money market funds are under constant threat of adverse regulatory action, curbing investors' appetite,' Rho Labs founder Alex Ryvkin told The Block.... I can confirm that widespread tokenized RWA-readiness is, although inevitable, still a couple of years away.' Ryvkin explained that while awareness and interest in tokenized real-world assets have grown, progress on regulatory clarity and infrastructure development will be necessary before these products achieve mass adoption. He noted that the current adoption stage remains in the 'experimentation phase,' with the usage of tokenized money market products still lagging far behind their traditional finance counterparts."
We write in our Earnings Calls article, "On Federated Hermes' Q3'24 earnings call, CEO J. Christopher Donahue, comments, 'We reached another record high for money market fund assets of $440 billion and total money market assets of ... $593 billion.... We believe a late quarter jump in SOFR rates led to certain investors shifting some assets into the direct market. We also saw certain large clients using money fund assets to pay down debt going into quarter end.'"
It states, "He explains, 'Q3 saw the first of several expected reductions in the Fed funds target rate, driving substantial growth in industry money market fund asset levels, particularly in August and September. Looking ahead for the rest of '24 and into '25, we believe that market conditions for money market strategies will continue to be favorable and that money market fund yields will continue to be attractive compared to the direct market and bank deposit rates.'"
Our "BNY, UBS Liquidate" piece says, "The number of Tax-Exempt and Muni Money Funds, particularly Institutional T-E MMFs, continues to shrink. A Prospectus Supplement filing for BNY Mellon National Municipal Money Market Fund states, 'The Board of Trustees of BNY Mellon Funds Trust has approved the liquidation of BNY Mellon National Municipal Money Market Fund, a series of the Trust, effective on or about October 21, 2024. Before the Liquidation Date, and at the discretion of Fund management, the Fund's portfolio securities will be sold and/or allowed to mature in their normal course and the Fund may cease to pursue its investment objective and policies. The liquidation of the Fund may result in one or more taxable events for shareholders subject to federal income tax.'"
The piece states, "It says, 'Accordingly, effective on or about Sept. 18, 2024, the Fund will be closed to any investments for new accounts, except that new accounts may be established for 'sweep accounts' and by participants in group retirement plans, provided the plan sponsor has been approved by BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, in the case of BNYM Adviser-sponsored retirement plans, or BNY Wealth, in the case of BNYW-sponsored retirement plans, and has established the Fund as an investment option in the plan before the Closing Date.'"
MFI also includes the News brief, "Money Fund Assets Break $6.9 Tril.," which says, "Crane Data's MFI Daily asset series broke $6.9 trillion for the first time ever, hitting a record $6.919 trillion on Tuesday (11/5). Our monthly MFI XLS series shows MMFs rising $89.9 billion in October to a record $6.865 trillion. ICI's last weekly 'Money Market Fund Assets' report shows money funds dipping $2.2 billion to $6.506 trillion in the week ended 10/30 after breaking the $6.5 trillion barrier the prior week."
Another News brief, "The WSJ Says, 'Cash Is No Longer King, but It's Hardly Trash. That's Trouble for Brokers,' tells us, 'Since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in 2022, brokerages have seen a key revenue source come under big pressure: What they can earn on customers' uninvested cash. When rates were super low, brokers could earn a good margin by sweeping that money into banks.'"
A third News brief, "Yahoo Writes, 'Cash Doesn't Always Come Off The Sidelines,' They explain, 'The Federal Reserve held interest rates ... high for more than a year. Investors took notice, piling into money market accounts to grab yields that haven't been available in more than a decade. But since the Fed slashed rates by 0.5% on Sept. 18, the flows into money market accounts haven't stopped. In fact, through Oct. 10, ... assets have increased by ... $180 billion since the Fed began cutting.' (See also, Reuters' 'The peculiar 'no show' from US cash funds.')"
A sidebar, "NYT: Money Funds Still Hot," says, "The New York Times writes, 'Money Market Rates Are Lower, Yes. But Compared to What?' Subtitled, 'Even with further Fed rate cuts likely, money market funds are a good alternative for stashing cash, and investors are still flocking to them, our columnist says,' the piece states, 'When money market interest rates broke above 5% last year, it was a wake-up call for many investors who had grown accustomed to getting almost nothing for their money at banks. Hundreds of billions of dollars flowed into the funds…. Now that the Federal Reserve has begun cutting short-term interest rates ... you may expect that these funds would be less appealing. But nothing could be further from the truth. The 'wall of cash' in money market funds isn't flowing into the stock market or other risky investments. It is, for the most part, staying where it is -- and growing larger.'"
Our November MFI XLS, with Oct. 31 data, shows total assets increased $89.9 billion to a record $6.865 trillion, after increasing $155.2 billion in September, $105.6 billion in August, $19.7 billion in July, $11.8 billion in June and $79.7 billion in May. They decreased $17.6 billion in April and $66.7 billion in March, but increased $50.0 billion in February, $87.0 billion in January, $24.5 billion in December and $219.8 billion in November.
Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was down 10 bps at 4.55%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was also down 11 bps at 4.64% in October. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 4.93% and 4.91%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.38% and 0.27% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (We'll revise expenses once we upload the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 10/31/24 on Friday, 11/8.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 34 days (up 3 bps) and the Crane 100 WAM was up 6 bps from the previous month at 36 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)
Crane Data published its latest Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics Tuesday, which track a shifting subset of our monthly Portfolio Holdings collection. The most recent cut (with data as of Nov. 1) includes Holdings information from 47 money funds (down 26 from a week ago), or $2.801 trillion (down from $3.786 trillion) of the $6.870 trillion in total money fund assets (or 40.8%) tracked by Crane Data. (Our Weekly MFPH are e-mail only and aren't available on the website. See our latest Monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings here and our Oct. 10 News, "October Money Fund Portfolio Holdings: Repo Surges, Reclaims Top Spot.")
Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.310 trillion (down from $1.709 trillion a week ago), or 46.8%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $963.0 billion (down from $1.369 trillion a week ago), or 34.4%, and Government Agency securities totaling $276.6 billion (down from $348.5 billion), or 9.9%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $97.3 billion (down from a week ago at $139.9 billion), or 3.5%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $58.6 billion (down from $79.5 billion a week ago), or 2.1%. The Other category accounted for $63.5 billion or 2.3%, while VRDNs accounted for $31.7 billion, or 1.1%.
The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.310 trillion (46.8% of total holdings), Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $257.3B (9.2%), the Federal Home Loan Bank with $193.5 billion (6.9%), BNP Paribas with $73.3B (2.6%), JP Morgan with $68.4B (2.4%), Citi with $65.3B (2.3%), Federal Farm Credit Bank with $58.4B (2.1%), Goldman Sachs with $49.1B (1.8%), the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with $47.4B (1.7%) and RBC with $44.7B (1.6%).
The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($284.5B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($252.3B), JPMorgan 100% US Treas MMkt ($215.8B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($214.4B), State Street Inst US Govt ($174.5B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($141.5B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($140.7B), Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($132.1B), Allspring Govt MM ($120.5B), and First American Govt Oblg ($100.6B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
In other news, Norton Rose Fulbright's Steven Lofchie writes that the "FDIC Chair Considers Deposit Insurance Reforms" in the latest "US Regulatory Intelligence." He tells us, "FDIC Chair Martin J. Gruenberg considered US and European experiences with deposit insurance and potential reforms to strengthen financial stability. In remarks at the Center for Financial Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt, Mr. Gruenberg highlighted the risks posed by heavy reliance on uninsured deposits, which, he said, contributed to the destabilizing bank runs in 2023."
The brief tells us, "He described the FDIC's ongoing review of deposit insurance coverage levels and-noting the trade-offs-identified three potential reforms being considered to address financial stability concerns: (i) raising the standard coverage limit, (ii) providing unlimited coverage and (iii) implementing targeted increased coverage for specific account types. Mr. Gruenberg indicated that the FDIC is particularly interested in higher coverage for business accounts, which could mitigate the risk of bank runs triggered by operational funding needs."
It says, "He recognized and cautioned against broad expansions that could introduce moral hazard. He reported that the FDIC and other regulatory agencies were developing a rule that would require large regional banks to issue long-term debt."
The piece also explains, "Mr. Gruenberg acknowledged regulatory efforts in the European Union to strengthen their deposit insurance framework and provided insights from the US experience with the FDIC's centralized system. While distinguishing the two systems, he supported European efforts, post the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, toward establishing a framework for ensuring financial stability, which include three integrally related pillars: (i) a single system for supervision, (ii) a single system for resolution and (iii) a single system for deposit insurance. He said 'I ... hope that the European Banking Union's aspirational third pillar may become a reality in the years ahead.'"
Gruenberg says in the speech, "The Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive, as amended in 2014, requires each EU Member State to ensure that at least one deposit guarantee scheme is established in their jurisdiction.... The 2014 Directive also sets minimum requirements for deposit guarantee schemes and the protections available to depositors. Those enhancements were several-fold. It set the harmonized coverage level at EUR 100,000 (or equivalent for EU Member States outside the Eurozone)."
He comments, "The failures of three large U.S. regional banks in early 2023 brought to bear a risk about which the FDIC had been concerned for many years.... We have clear evidence now, based on the 2023 experience and the failures of Silicon Valley Bank (Silicon Valley), Signature Bank (Signature), and First Republic Bank (First Republic), that the heavy reliance of those banks on uninsured deposits for funding created a destabilizing contagion effect on other banks. The runs materialized after we announced that the failure of Silicon Valley Bank would result in losses to uninsured depositors."
Gruenberg continues, "While the FDIC resolved all three failed institutions last year in a manner that mitigated systemic risk, that outcome was by no means certain. In particular, the resolution of Silicon Valley and Signature required the use of extraordinary authority by the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, and the Treasury -- the systemic risk exception under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act -- to protect uninsured depositors at those institutions, setting aside the least cost requirement to the Deposit Insurance Fund."
He states, "The spring of 2023 highlighted the risks of heavy reliance on uninsured deposits and raised questions about the purpose and design of the deposit insurance system. In response to last year's bank failures and the issues they raised, the FDIC published a report that covered the role and history of deposit insurance and offered three main options for reform of the system. The first is to raise the level of deposit insurance coverage.... A second option would be to provide unlimited coverage.... The third option would be targeted increased coverage for different types of accounts."
Finally, the FDIC Chair adds, "In particular, it would focus on higher coverage levels for business payment accounts. Business payment accounts may pose a lower risk of moral hazard. Holders of accounts for operational business purposes are less likely to view their deposits using a risk-return tradeoff than a depositor using the account for savings and investment purposes. At the same time, business payment accounts may pose greater financial stability concerns than other accounts given that the inability to access those accounts can result in broader economic effects resulting from failure to make payrolls."
Money fund yields declined by 2 basis points to 4.64% on average during the week ended Friday, Nov. 1 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after inching down 2 bps the week prior. They've declined by 42 bps since the Fed cut its Fed funds target rate by 50 bps percent on Sept. 18. Yields were 4.65% on 10/31, 4.75% on 9/30, 5.10% on 8/31, 5.13% on 7/31 and 6/28, 5.14% on 5/31, 5.13% on 4/30, 5.14% on 3/31 and 2/29/24, 5.17% on 1/31/24, and 5.20% on 12/31/23. Yields should remain flat to slightly lower until Friday, when they should decline sharply again if, as expected, the Fed's cuts rates by 1/4 percent at its Nov. 7 meeting. (Note: Register soon for our "basic training" conference, Money Fund University, which will take place Dec. 19-20 in Providence, R.I.)
The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 664), shows a 7-day yield of 4.54%, down 2 bps in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 1 bp at 4.78% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 4.65%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 2 bps at 4.58%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.36%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.37%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.55%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were down 23 bps to 3.00%.
Assets of money market funds rose by $37.2 billion last week to a new record high $6.870 trillion according to Crane Data's Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets reached its previous record high Thursday Oct. 31 at $6.862 trillion. For the month of October, MMF assets increased by $97.5 billion, after increasing by $149.8 billion in September. Weighted average maturities were up 1 day at 35 days for the Crane MFA and up 1 day at 36 days for the Crane 100 Money Fund Index.
According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (11/1), 45 money funds (out of 775 total) yield under 3.0% with $27.5 billion in assets, or 0.4%; 102 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($139.9 billion, or 2.0%), 625 funds yield between 4.0% and 4.99% ($6.613 trillion, or 96.3%) and just 3 funds now yield 5.0% or more ($89.1 billion, or 1.3%).
Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.51%, after dropping 2 basis points three weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of Nov. 1, shows that there was only one change over the past week. Merrill Lynch lowered rates again for their advisory accounts, now at 4.67% (down 2 bps from the week prior). Three of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. (Note: Six weeks prior we added advisory rates to Brokerage Sweep Intelligence for Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.)
In other news, Reuters tells us, "Capital One warns of potential enforcement action over savings accounts." It states, "A top federal agency may pursue enforcement action against Capital One (COF), over alleged misrepresentations related to its savings accounts, the consumer lender disclosed in a filing.... The company is responding to a letter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sent it earlier this month. The agency may also pursue litigation, Capital One warned. At the center of the controversy is a lawsuit filed by some customers last year, who alleged that the company introduced a new '360 Performance Savings' account with a higher interest rate than it was paying to customers of another account, '360 Savings.'"
The article says, "The customers claimed that this mismatch was not clearly communicated, resulting in them missing out on potential earnings. Capital One said it had a contractual right to change interest rates at its discretion and information about the new account was always available on its website. The company had filed a motion to dismiss the customers' lawsuit, a spokesperson told Reuters. CFPB declined to comment."
It adds, "The probe comes as the company is awaiting regulatory approvals for its $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services (DFS.N), which could reshape the payments industry. Last week, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was investigating if the deal violates the state's antitrust law. In July, Capital One said it will commit $265 billion over five years to lending, philanthropy and investment if its takeover goes through."
The Capital One SEC filing states (on page 145) under, "Savings Account Litigation and Related Government Investigation," "On July 10, 2023, we were sued in a putative class action in the Eastern District of Virginia by savings account holders alleging breach of contract and a variety of other causes of action relating to our introduction of a new savings account product with a higher interest rate than existing savings account products. Since the original suit, we have also been sued in six similar putative class actions in federal courts in California, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey and New York.... Plaintiffs filed a consolidated complaint on July 1, 2024 and the court set a trial date in July 2025. We filed a motion to dismiss the consolidated complaint, which is fully briefed and pending with the court."
It tells us, "In August 2024, we received a Civil Investigative Demand from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ('CFPB') relating to the savings account products at issue in the litigation. In October 2024, the CFPB issued a Notice of Opportunity to Respond and Advise ('NORA') letter indicating that the CFPB is considering an enforcement action against us on similar grounds as the claims in the Savings Account Litigation. We are responding to the NORA letter and it is possible the CFPB will pursue an enforcement action, including possible litigation, at the end of the NORA process."
On "Deposit Insurance Assessments," it says, "On November 16, 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") finalized a rule to implement a special assessment to recover the loss to the Deposit Insurance Fund ("DIF") arising from the protection of uninsured depositors in connection with the systemic risk determination announced on March 12, 2023, following the closures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. In December 2023, the FDIC provided notification that they would be collecting the special assessment at an annual rate of approximately 13.4 basis points ("bps") over eight quarterly collection periods, beginning with the first quarter of 2024 with the first payment due on June 28, 2024.... The special assessment base is equal to an insured depository institution's estimated uninsured deposits reported on its Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income as of December 31, 2022 ("2022 Call Report"), adjusted to exclude the first $5 billion of uninsured deposits." For more, see also Crane Data's Link of the Day, "WSJ Says High Yield Savings Deceptive (3/1/24).
Finally, a brief on CBS News explains, "Warren Buffett sitting on over $325 billion cash." It states, "Warren Buffett is now sitting on more than $325 billion cash after continuing to unload billions of dollars worth of Apple and Bank of America shares this year and continuing to collect a steady stream of profits from all of Berkshire Hathaway's assorted businesses without finding any major acquisitions.... CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert said shareholders will wonder why Buffett is continuing to accumulate so much cash. 'Are they more pessimistic about the future economic and market picture than perhaps others are?' she said."
The Securities and Exchange Commission published its latest monthly "Money Market Fund Statistics" summary for September, which shows that total money fund assets rose by $166.6 billion in September to a record $6.834 trillion, after jumping $97.8 billion the month prior. The SEC shows Prime MMFs decreasing $5.6 billion in September to $1.158 trillion, Govt & Treasury funds increasing $171.2 billion to $5.542 trillion and Tax Exempt funds increasing $1.0 billion to $134.2 billion. Taxable yields plunged in September after dipping in August. The SEC's Division of Investment Management summarizes monthly Form N-MFP data and includes asset totals and averages for yields, liquidity levels, WAMs, WALs, holdings, and other money market fund trends. We review their latest numbers below. (For the month of October, total money fund assets increased by $97.5 billion to a record $6.862 trillion, according to Crane Data's separate, and slightly smaller, MFI Daily series.)
September's overall asset increase follows an increase of $97.8 billion in August, $19.5 billion in July, $21.3 billion in June, and $89.7 billion in May. Assets decreased $17.7 billion in April and $68.5 billion in March, but increased $65.9 billion in February, $87.7 billion in January, $34.0 billion in December and $225.7 billion in November. MMFs decreased $41.2 billion last October. Over the 12 months through 9/30/24, total MMF assets increased by $681.0 billion, or 11.1%, according to the SEC's series.
The SEC's stats show that of the $6.834 trillion in assets, $1.158 trillion was in Prime funds, down $5.6 billion in September. Prime assets were down $25.1 billion in August, $11.5 billion in July, $204.6 billion in June, up $19.7 billion in May, down $30.0 billion in April, up $8.1 billion in March, $33.5 billion in February, $52.5 billion in January, $1.2 billion in December, $32.5 billion in November and $13.9 billion in October. Prime funds represented 16.9% of total assets at the end of September. They've decreased by $115.2 billion, or -9.1%, over the past 12 months. (Note that the SEC's series includes a number of internal money funds not tracked by ICI, though Crane Data includes most of these assets in its collections.)
Government & Treasury funds totaled $5.542 trillion, or 81.1% of assets. They increased $171.2 billion in September, $121.9 billion in August, $31.3 billion in July, $229.2 billion in June, $65.5 billion in May, increased $9.3 billion in April, decreased $78.8 billion in March, increased $33.1 billion in February, $39.7 billion in January, $31.7 billion in December, $193.7 billion in November and decreased $62.4 billion last October. Govt & Treasury MMFs are up $785.4 billion over 12 months, or 16.5%. Tax Exempt Funds increased $1.0 billion to $134.2 billion, or 2.0% of all assets. The number of money funds was 280 in September, down 4 from the previous month and down 12 funds from a year earlier.
Yields for Taxable MMFs were lower while Tax Exempt MMFs were higher in September. The Weighted Average Gross 7-Day Yield for Prime Institutional Funds on Sept. 30 was 5.04%, down 42 bps from the prior month. The Weighted Average Gross 7-Day Yield for Prime Retail MMFs was 5.06%, down 41 bps from the previous month. Gross yields were 5.00% for Government Funds, down 36 bps from last month. Gross yields for Treasury Funds were down 29 bps at 5.03%. Gross Yields for Tax Exempt Institutional MMFs were up 24 basis points to 3.38% in September. Gross Yields for Tax Exempt Retail funds were up 8 bps to 3.30%.
The Weighted Average 7-Day Net Yield for Prime Institutional MMFs was 4.94%, down 41 bps from the previous month and down 49 bps from 9/30/23. The Average Net Yield for Prime Retail Funds was 4.79%, down 41 bps from the previous month, and down 49 bps since 9/30/23. Net yields were 4.78% for Government Funds, down 36 bps from last month. Net yields for Treasury Funds were down 30 bps from the previous month at 4.81%. Net Yields for Tax Exempt Institutional MMFs were up 25 bps from August to 3.26%. Net Yields for Tax Exempt Retail funds were up 8 bps at 3.06% in September. (Note: These averages are asset-weighted.)
WALs and WAMs were mostly down in September. The average Weighted Average Life, or WAL, was 45.4 days (up 0.6 days) for Prime Institutional funds, and 44.4 days for Prime Retail funds (unchanged). Government fund WALs averaged 80.6 days (down 0.5 days) while Treasury fund WALs averaged 77.9 days (down 3.9 days). Tax Exempt Institutional fund WALs were 4.4 days (down 1.3 days), and Tax Exempt Retail MMF WALs averaged 31.2 days (up 0.6 days).
The Weighted Average Maturity, or WAM, was 25.1 days (down 2.6 days from the previous month) for Prime Institutional funds, 20.9 days (down 5.3 days from the previous month) for Prime Retail funds, 28.6 days (down 2.7 days from previous month) for Government funds, and 36.5 days (down 2.7 days from previous month) for Treasury funds. Tax Exempt Inst WAMs were down 1.3 days to 4.4 days, while Tax Exempt Retail WAMs were up 0.8 days from previous month at 30.6 days.
Total Daily Liquid Assets for Prime Institutional funds were 52.1% in September (down 4.4% from the previous month), and DLA for Prime Retail funds was 44.6% (down 1.4% from previous month) as a percent of total assets. The average DLA was 67.0% for Govt MMFs and 93.5% for Treasury MMFs. Total Weekly Liquid Assets was 65.8% (down 2.6% from the previous month) for Prime Institutional MMFs, and 62.5% (down 0.6% from the previous month) for Prime Retail funds. Average WLA was 78.9% for Govt MMFs and 98.5% for Treasury MMFs.
In the SEC's "Prime Holdings of Bank-Related Securities by Country table for September 2024," the largest entries included: the U.S. with $176.2B, Canada with $164.2 billion, Japan with $119.9 billion, France with $86.7 billion, the Netherlands with $49.3B, Aust/NZ with $42.0B, the U.K. with $40.2B, Germany with $32.0B and Switzerland with $5.4B. The gainers among the "Prime MMF Holdings by Country" included: Canada (up $7.4B), Aust/NZ (up $6.6B), Netherlands (up $5.5B), Germany (up $4.6B) and the U.S. (up $1.0B). Decreases were shown by: the U.K. (down $15.4B), Japan (down $13.0B), France (down $8.3B) and Switzerland (down $0.8B).
The SEC's "Prime Holdings of Bank-Related Securities by Region" table shows The Americas had $340.4 billion (up $8.4B), while Eurozone had $182.0B (down $9.9B). Asia Pacific subset had $193.8B (down $12.3B), while Europe (non-Eurozone) had $104.4B (down $27.2B from last month).
The "Prime MMF Aggregate Product Exposures" chart shows that of the $1.145 trillion in Prime MMF Portfolios as of September 30, $430.3B (37.6%) was in Government & Treasury securities (direct and repo) (up from $400.3B), $317.0B (27.7%) was in CDs and Time Deposits (down from $353.1B), $189.7B (16.6%) was in Financial Company CP (down from $192.8B), $129.2B (11.3%) was held in Non-Financial CP and Other securities (down from $129.6B), and $78.6B (6.9%) was in ABCP (up from $74.9B).
The SEC's "Government and Treasury Funds Bank Repo Counterparties by Country" table shows the U.S. with $475.2 billion, Canada with $192.5 billion, France with $195.8 billion, the U.K. with $100.2 billion, Germany with $20.3 billion, Japan with $150.4 billion and Other with $44.5 billion. All MMF Repo with the Federal Reserve was up $38.3 billion in September to $429.8 billion.
Finally, a "Percent of Securities with Greater than 179 Days to Maturity" table shows Prime Inst MMFs 7.6%, Prime Retail MMFs with 6.8%, Tax Exempt Inst MMFs with 0.0%, Tax Exempt Retail MMFs with 6.3%, Govt MMFs with 12.4% and Treasury MMFs with 11.0%.
ICI's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money funds inching lower by $2.2 billion to $6.506 trillion, after jumping $40.4 billion last week to a record $6.508 trillion. Assets have risen in 10 of the last 13, and 21 of the last 28 weeks, increasing by $202.4 billion (or 3.2%) since the Fed cut on 9/18 and increasing by $528.5 billion (or 8.8%) since April 24. MMF assets are up by $620 billion, or 13.1%, year-to-date in 2024 (through 10/30/24), with Institutional MMFs up $282 billion, or 9.2% and Retail MMFs up $337 billion, or 20.1%. Over the past 52 weeks, money funds have risen by $811 billion, or 14.2%, with Retail MMFs up by $413 billion (18.6%) and Inst MMFs rising by $398 billion (11.4%).
ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $2.20 billion to $6.51 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, October 30, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $2.94 billion and prime funds decreased by $345 million. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $1.08 billion. " ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $6.7 billion and Retail MMFs rising $4.5 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $5.314 trillion (81.7% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.058 trillion (16.3%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $133.6 billion (2.0%).
ICI explains, "Assets of retail money market funds increased by $4.47 billion to $2.63 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets increased by $2.61 billion to $1.67 trillion, prime money market fund assets increased by $779 million to $835.48 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $1.08 billion to $122.10 billion." Retail assets account for over a third of total assets, or 40.4%, and Government Retail assets make up 63.6% of all Retail MMFs.
They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $6.68 billion to $3.88 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $5.55 billion to $3.64 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $1.12 billion to $222.87 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets were unchanged at $11.50 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 59.6% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.0% of all institutional MMF totals.
According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have risen by $87.4 billion in October through 10/30 to $6.852 trillion. Assets rose by $149.8 billion in September, $109.7 billion in August, $16.6 billion in July, $15.7 billion in June and $91.4 billion in May. They declined by $15.8 billion in April and $68.8 billion in March. They rose $72.1 billion in February, $93.9 billion in January, $32.7 billion in December and $226.4 billion in November. MMF totals fell by $31.9 billion last October. Note that ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're about $340 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
In other news, a press release titled, "MANTRA and Libre Open Onchain Access to BlackRock Money Market Fund," tells us, "MANTRA, a layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) has partnered with Libre Capital, a UAE-headquartered financial instruments tokenization and issuance platform, to provide investors with onchain access to a diverse range of attractive investment funds. This partnership will provide those MANTRA users that are institutional or accredited investors with investment opportunities across a number of notable onchain funds, including leading hedge funds, private credit funds and the BlackRock ICS Money Market fund. "
It explains, "By leveraging Libre's capabilities and MANTRA's robust ecosystem, the partnership will facilitate the issuance of a tokenized BlackRock ICS Money Market Fund, and expand investment horizons for institutional and accredited investors seeking to diversify their portfolios within the digital asset landscape. The initiative underscores MANTRA's commitment to leading the development of a comprehensive and diverse digital asset infrastructure, and strengthens MANTRA's position in the growing digital asset spectrum within the financial services industry."
The release says, "Libre operates backbone infrastructure that allows investors to access tokenized versions of real world assets such as money market funds, private credit and hedge funds and other alternative asset products on public blockchains. Libre does this through the on-chain Libre Gateway DeFi dApps (decentralized applications) deployed on each public chain. This enables accredited, professional and institutional investors to directly access top-tier funds on MANTRA Chain in a fully compliant manner."
MANTRA Co-Founder and CEO John Patrick Mullin comments, "We're honored to be partnering with Libre to give users access to this caliber of funds. [W]ith the addition of protocols like the Libre Gateway, MANTRA can better equip users with a best-in-class collection of tools to continue to grow the real-world asset economy."
Dr. Avtar Sehra, CEO and founder of Libre, adds, "The launch of the Libre Gateway on MANTRA Chain is a huge step forward to enable access to wealth and treasury management tools for users on MANTRA, and for Libre to take advantage of MANTRA's RWA-specific infrastructure."
Finally, the release state, "This partnership comes after MANTRA recently announced the launch of its mainnet, simplifying the process of bringing RWAs onchain and marking a significant step in the integration of traditional finance with blockchain technology. For more information about MANTRA and access to the money market funds, visit mantrachain.io."
