News Archives: March, 2026
Fidelity Investments is the 5th money fund manager to launch a Stablecoin Reserves money market fund, following BlackRock's Circle Treasury Reserves, and Stablecoin Reserves offerings from State Street, Goldman Sachs and BNY. A Form N-1A Registration Statement tells us, "Fidelity Reserves Digital Fund seeks to obtain as high a level of current income as is consistent with the preservation of capital and liquidity." (Note: Thank you to those who attended and supported our Bond Fund Symposium last week in Boston! Attendees and Crane Data subscribers may access the conference materials via our Bond Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center.)
It Principal Investment Strategies include: "Investing only in U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds with a remaining maturity of, or issued with a maturity of, 93 days or less, cash, and overnight repurchase agreements fully collateralized by U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds, and other registered government money market funds; Investing only in eligible reserve assets that payment stablecoin issuers are permitted to maintain under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act ('GENIUS Act') and any regulations adopted thereunder; and, Investing in compliance with industry-standard regulatory requirements for money market funds for the quality, maturity, liquidity, and diversification of investments."
Fidelity says, "Fund shares are expected to be held primarily by one or more stablecoin issuers as all or a portion of the reserve assets that back the stablecoins issued to their customers. Fund assets are therefore expected to fluctuate depending on the creation of additional stablecoins or the redemption of outstanding stablecoins. Stablecoins may face periods of uncertainty or volatility that could result in rapid or unexpected redemption requests. Large redemption requests could negatively affect the fund's liquidity, net asset value or portfolio management. Because the fund intends to invest only in certain eligible reserve assets that payment stablecoin issuers are permitted to maintain under the GENIUS Act, the fund's yield may be lower than other money market funds that are permitted to invest in a wider universe of investments."
They write, "Shares are offered to institutional investors, including stablecoin issuers. The fund may offer additional share classes in the future that employ blockchain technology to maintain a record of share ownership."
The filing tells us, "Fidelity Reserves Digital Fund seeks to obtain as high a level of current income as is consistent with the preservation of capital and liquidity.... The Adviser invests only in U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds with a remaining maturity of, or issued with a maturity of, 93 days or less, cash, and overnight repurchase agreements fully collateralized by U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds, and other registered government money market funds. The fund invests only in eligible reserve assets that payment stablecoin issuers are permitted to maintain under the GENIUS Act and any regulations adopted thereunder. In buying and selling securities for the fund, the Adviser complies with industry-standard regulatory requirements for money market funds regarding the quality, maturity, liquidity, and diversification of the fund's investments. The Adviser stresses maintaining a stable $1.00 share price, liquidity, and income."
Discussing "Stablecoin Issuer Reserves Risk," Fidelity states, "Fund shares are expected to be held primarily by one or more stablecoin issuers as all or a portion of the reserve assets that back the stablecoins issued to their customers. Stablecoins generally are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value by pegging their value to another asset, such as a fiat currency like the U.S. dollar, and stablecoin holders generally are permitted to redeem their stablecoins for a fixed amount of value. The fund does not invest in stablecoins or stablecoin issuers; however, the fund's assets are expected to fluctuate depending on the creation (minting) of additional stablecoins or the redemption (burning) of outstanding stablecoins."
They continue, "Stablecoins or other digital assets that stablecoins may be used to purchase or sell may face periods of uncertainty or volatility that could result in rapid or unexpected redemption requests to the fund. Such uncertainty or volatility may result from events that are not specifically related to a stablecoin issuer, such as changes in general market conditions, economic, technological or legal trends or changes to the laws or regulation of stablecoins, or events that are specifically related to a particular stablecoin issuer, such as uncertainty about the stablecoin issuer's ability to maintain a consistent peg between the stablecoins issued to its customers and another asset. Large redemption requests could negatively affect the fund's liquidity, net asset value or portfolio management. Because the fund intends to invest only in certain eligible reserve assets that payment stablecoin issuers are permitted to maintain under the GENIUS Act, the fund’s yield may be lower than other money market funds that are permitted to invest in a wider universe of investments."
We wrote in January, "Fidelity to Launch Digital Dollar Stablecoin" (1/29/26), "Fidelity announced the launch of a new stablecoin and says it will also manage the stablecoin's reserves. Their press release titled, "Fidelity Investments to Expand Digital Asset Investment Lineup with Stablecoin Launch: Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD)," tells us, "Fidelity Investments is set to launch its first stablecoin, Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), which will be issued by Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association, and available for retail and institutional investors in the coming weeks."
The previous article continues, "FIDD's key functions will be supported by Fidelity Investments businesses, offering investors a full-service stablecoin model, including: Reserve asset management, conducted by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, and leveraging Fidelity's longstanding asset management expertise; Purchase and redemption options that will permit customers to buy or sell FIDD for $1 on the Fidelity Digital Assets, Fidelity Crypto, and Fidelity Crypto for Wealth Managers platforms."
It adds, "With the current stablecoin market cap at more than $316 billion and a U.S. regulatory framework now in place, Fidelity is one of the first traditional financial institutions to issue its own digital dollar."
For more on Stablecoin Reserve funds, see these Crane Data News stories: "'Dec. MFI: MMFs Hit $8.0T, Top 10; JPM '26 Outlook; Stablecoin Reserves" (12/5/25), "'State Street Files for Stablecoin Reserves MMF; BNY's Stephanie Pierce" (11/19/25), "BNY Stablecoin Reserves Goes Live; ICI: Assets Eke Out Record $7.5T" (11/14/25),"BNY's Vince on Q3 Call: Money Market Evolution, Dreyfus, Stablecoins" (10/22/25), "BlackRock Breaks $1 Trillion in Money Funds; Offers Stablecoin Reserve" (10/17/25), "Sept. MFI: Assets Break $7.6T; Stablecoin Reserves; JPM on Offshore MFs" (9/8/25), "BNY Dreyfus to Launch Stablecoin Reserves Fund; Joins Goldman, Circle" (8/20) and "Goldman Files to Launch Stablecoin Reserves Fund; Circle Q2 Earnings" (8/13/25).
The Federal Reserve released its latest quarterly "Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States" statistical survey (a.k.a. "Flow of Funds") recently, and among the 4 tables it includes on money market mutual funds, the Fourth Quarter 2025 edition shows that Total MMF Assets increased by $416 billion to $8.190 trillion in Q4'25. The Household Sector, by far the largest investor segment with $5.321 trillion, saw the biggest asset increase in Q4, followed by Nonfinancial Corporate Business and Other Financial Business (formerly Funding Corps). The Fed's latest Z.1 numbers, which contain one of the few looks at money fund investor segments available, also showed noticeable increases for the Mutual Funds and Rest of the World categories in Q4 2025. (Note: Thank you to those who attended and supported our Bond Fund Symposium this week in Boston! Attendees and Crane Data subscribers may access the conference materials via our Bond Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center.)
Households, Nonfinancial Corporate Business, Other Financial Business, Mutual Funds, Rest of the World, Private Pension Funds, Nonfinancial Noncorporate Business, Exchange-traded funds, State & Local Governments and State & Local Govt Retirement categories saw asset increases in Q4, while Property-Casualty Insurance and Life Insurance Companies saw asset decreases last quarter. Over the past 12 months, the Household Sector, Nonfinancial Corporate Business and Other Financial Business categories showed the biggest asset increases.
The Fed's "Table L.206," "Money Market Mutual Fund Shares," shows that total assets increased by $416 billion, or 5.4%, in the fourth quarter to $8.190 trillion. The largest segment, the Household sector, totals $5.321 trillion, or 65.0% of assets. The Household Sector increased by $283 billion, or 5.6%, in the quarter. Over the past 12 months through Dec. 31, 2025, Household assets were up $611 billion, or 13.0%.
Nonfinancial Corporate Businesses, the second-largest segment according to the Fed's data series, held $1.088 trillion, or 13.3% of the total. Assets here increased by $59 billion in the quarter, or 5.8%, and they've increased by $126 billion, or 13.0%, over the past year. Other Financial Business was the third-largest investor segment with $589 billion, or 7.2% of money fund shares. This category rose $48 billion, or 8.9%, in the latest quarter. Other Financial Business, which we believe includes Securities Lending, has increased by $71 billion, or 13.7%, over the previous 12 months.
The Mutual Funds category was the fourth-largest investor segment with $235 billion, or 2.9%, while the fifth-largest segment, Private Pension Funds, held $231 billion (2.8%), and the sixth-largest category, Rest of the World, held $220 billion (2.7%). Nonfinancial Noncorporate Business held $146 billion (1.8%), Life Insurance Companies held $113 billion (1.4%), State & Local Governments held $93 billion (1.1%), Property-Casualty Insurance held $64 billion (0.8%), Exchange-traded Funds held $55 billion (0.7%), and State & Local Govt Retirement held $37 billion (0.5%) according to the Fed's Z.1 breakout.
The Fed's "Flow of Funds" Table L.121 shows "Money Market Mutual Funds" largely invested in "Security Repurchase Agreements" with $2.994 trillion, or 36.6%, and "Debt Securities," or Credit Market Instruments, with $5.021 trillion, or 61.3% of the total. Debt securities include: Open market paper ($319 billion, or 3.9%; we assume this is CP), Treasury securities ($3.518 trillion, or 43.0%), Agency and GSE-backed securities ($1.013 trillion, or 12.4%), Municipal securities ($155 billion, or 1.9%) and Corporate and foreign bonds ($16 billion, or 0.2%).
Another large MMF position in the Fed's series includes `Time and savings deposits ($252 billion, or 3.1%). Money funds also hold minor positions in Miscellaneous assets ($-77 billion, or -0.9%) and Foreign deposits ($0.0 billion). Note: The Fed also lists "Variable Annuity Money Funds," which currently total $50 billion.
During Q4, Debt Securities were up $324 billion. This subtotal included: Open Market Paper (up $5 billion), Treasury Securities (up $285 billion), Agency- and GSE-backed Securities (up $14 billion), Corporate & Foreign Bonds (up $4 billion) and Municipal Securities (up $15 billion). In the fourth quarter of 2025, Security Repurchase Agreements were up $222 billion, Foreign Deposits were unchanged, Time & Savings Deposits were down $10 billion, and Miscellaneous Assets were down $120 billion.
Over the 12 months through 12/31/25, Debt Securities were up $695 billion, which included Open Market Paper (up $20B), Treasury Securities (up $523B), Agencies (up $127B), Municipal Securities (up $17B), and Corporate and Foreign Bonds (up $9B). Foreign Deposits fell $4B and Time and Savings Deposits decreased $12B. Securities Repurchase Agreements were up $374B over the year, while Miscellaneous Assets fell $106B.
The L.121 table shows `Stable NAV money market funds with $7,831 billion, or 95.6% of the total (up $424B or 5.7% in Q4 and up $926B or 13.4% over 1-year), and Floating NAV money market funds with $359 billion, or 4.4% (down $8B or -2.1% in Q4 and up $21B or 6.2% over 1-year). Government money market funds total $6.690 trillion, or 81.7% (up $388B or 6.1% in Q4 and up $779B or 13.2% over 1-year), `Prime money market funds total $1.343 trillion, or 16.4% (up $14B or 1.0% in Q4 and up $152B or 12.7% over 1-year) and Tax-exempt money market funds $158B, or 1.9% (up $15B or 10.6% in Q4 and up $17B or 11.9% last year).
Note that the Federal Reserve made some changes to its Z.1 tables several years ago. Describing a "Money market funds sector data source change," the report says, "The money market mutual funds (MMF) sector (tables F.121 and L.121) has been revised beginning 2010:Q4 to reflect a change in data source to Securities and Exchange Commission Form NMFP. The level of assets and shares outstanding of the sector have increased due to the inclusion of private placement MMFs in the source data. Changes in the level due to changes in the data source in 2010:Q4 are recorded as other volume changes in the Financial Accounts."
On "Mutual funds sector holdings of money market funds," Z.1 tells us, "The mutual funds sector (tables F.122 and L.122) has been revised beginning 2010:Q4 to reflect holdings of money market funds not previously reported on the tables. In addition, holdings of repurchase agreements, commercial paper, corporate bonds, and miscellaneous assets have been revised. Additional and revised holdings are estimated using data from Morningstar and Investment Company Institute.... The exchange-traded funds sector (tables F.124 and L.124) has been revised beginning 2010:Q4 to reflect holdings of money market funds not previously reported on the tables."
Money market mutual fund assets jumped by $36.1 billion on Tuesday (March 17) to a record high of $8.276 trillion, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets have risen $34.6 billion in the week through Tuesday, and they've increased by $34.6 billion in March month-to-date (through 3/17). MMF assets increased by $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose by $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. But MMFs decreased $24.4 billion in April and increased by $2.8 billion last March. (Note: For those attending our Bond Fund Symposium, which takes place March 19-20, welcome to Boston! Attendees and Crane Data subscribers may access the conference materials via our Bond Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center.
In other news, a release, "Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement," tells us, "Available indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace. Job gains have remained low, and the unemployment rate has been little changed in recent months. `Inflation remains somewhat elevated."
It states, "The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated. The implications of developments in the Middle East for the U.S. economy are uncertain. The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate.
The FOMC explains, "In support of its goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3‑1/2 to 3‑3/4 percent. In considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks. The Committee is strongly committed to supporting maximum employment and returning inflation to its 2 percent objective."
They add, "In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook. The Committee would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee's goals. The Committee's assessments will take into account a wide range of information, including readings on labor market conditions, inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and financial and international developments."
The statement also says, "Voting for the monetary policy action were Jerome H. Powell, Chair; John C. Williams, Vice Chair; Michael S. Barr; Michelle W. Bowman; Lisa D. Cook; Beth M. Hammack; Philip N. Jefferson; Neel Kashkari; Lorie K. Logan; Anna Paulson; and Christopher J. Waller. Voting against this action was Stephen I. Miran, who preferred to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 1/4 percentage point at this meeting."
Finally, website ETF Trends writes, "Short-Term Bond ETFs Are Still Fashionable." They comment, "Last year's rate cuts still linger in the minds of advisors and fixed income investors. They may be inclined to focus on intermediate-term and longer-dated bonds and the related ETFs. After all, those assets have higher yields and are often more responsive to changes in interest rates. So if the Fed lower rates this year, there's greater upside potential with longer duration fixed income fare. That doesn't diminish the utility of short-term bond ETFs."
The piece says, "As advisors know, those funds come in three flavors: ultrashort bond, short-term bond, and short-term government bond. Broadly speaking, those are conservative options. Still, investors should still manage expectations when it comes to this corner of the bond market."
They quote Morningstar's Amy Arnott, "Like other bonds, short-term bonds perform best during periods of declining interest rates and low or declining inflation. Because of their limited maturities, though, they don't benefit as much from downward trends in interest rates."
The article adds, "The universe of short-term bond ETFs is densely populated by both active and passive funds, many of which are cost-effective. So investors have plenty of choice and don’t need to worry about onerous fees.... Examples of short-term bond ETFs include the JPMorgan Limited Duration Bond ETF (JPLD) and the Schwab 1-5 Year Corporate Bond ETF (SCHJ)."
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 March 13) includes Holdings information from 57 money funds (up 3 from two weeks ago), or $4.044 trillion (up from $3.593 trillion) of the $8.222 trillion in total money fund assets (or 49.2%) tracked by Crane Data. (Note: 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 March 11 News, "March MF Portfolio Holdings: Assets, Treasuries, Repo & Agencies All Up.") (Note too: There's still time to register for our Bond Fund Symposium, which is later this week, March 19-20, in Boston, Mass. Attendees and Crane Data subscribers may access the conference materials via our Bond Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center. Safe travels to those attending and see you soon!)
Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.937 trillion (up from $1.663 trillion two weeks ago), or 47.9%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.413 trillion (up from $1.313 trillion two weeks ago), or 34.9%, and Government Agency securities totaling $380.0 billion (up from $361.1 billion two weeks ago), or 9.4%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $146.5 billion (up from $130.6 billion two weeks ago), or 3.6%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $73.2 billion (up from $52.3 billion two weeks ago), or 1.8%. The Other category accounted for $56.3 billion or 1.4%, while VRDNs accounted for $38.1 billion or 0.9%.
The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.938 trillion, Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $482.6B, the Federal Home Loan Bank with $221.1B, JP Morgan with $130.4B, Citi with $100.5B, RBC with $96.0B, BNP Paribas with $91.7B, Federal Farm Credit Bank with $83.9B, Wells Fargo with $81.9B and Bank of America with $61.0B.
The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($332.8B), JPMorgan 100% US Trs MM ($318.7B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($284.4B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($271.1B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($218.8B), State Street Inst US Govt ($212.6B), BlackRock Lq FedFund ($202.3B), BlackRock Lq Treas Tr ($177.4B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($167.4B) and Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($163.7B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
In related news, ICI also recently 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.
It tells us, "The Investment Company Institute (ICI) reports that, as of the final Friday in February, prime money market funds held 44.3 percent of their portfolios in daily liquid assets and 60.1 percent in weekly liquid assets, while government money market funds held 75.2 percent of their portfolios in daily liquid assets and 86.8 percent in weekly liquid assets." Prime DLA was down from 46.4% in January, and Prime WLA was down from 60.8%. Govt MMFs' DLA fell from 76.4% and Govt WLA was down from 87.9% for the previous month.
ICI explains, "At the end of February, prime funds had a weighted average maturity (WAM) of 34 days and a weighted average life (WAL) of 56 days. Average WAMs and WALs are asset-weighted. Government money market funds had a WAM of 43 days and a WAL of 96 days." Prime WAMs were unchanged while WALs were up 2 days from the previous month. Govt WAMs were down while WALs were unchanged from the previous month, WAMs were 1 day shorter and WALs were still 96 days.
Regarding Holdings by Region of Issuer, the release tells us, "Prime money market funds’ holdings attributable to the Americas rose from $766.12 billion in January to $783.75 billion in February. Government money market funds’ holdings attributable to the Americas rose from $5,868.93 billion in January to $5,918.15 billion in February."
The Prime Money Market Funds by Region of Issuer table shows Americas-related holdings at $783.8 billion, or 63.5%; Asia and Pacific at $168.3 billion, or 13.6%; Europe at $263.1 billion, or 21.3%; and, Other (including Supranational) at $19.3 billion, or 1.6%. The Government Money Market Funds by Region of Issuer table shows Americas at $5.918 trillion, or 92.0%; Asia and Pacific at $108.0 or 1.7%; Europe at $372.8 billion, 5.8%, and Other (Including Supranational) at $31.1 billion, or 0.5%.
Federated Hermes' Chairman & CEO Chris Donahue spoke last week at the 2026 RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference," and comments on tokenization, "The BNY, Goldman deal is where we have our regular fund. BNY makes a token. The token invests, in effect, money in the fund, so the money fund's the same as it was five minutes ago, and it participates in Goldman's platform. That's another whole deal. Archax is one we're doing in Europe. It's about the same as the BNY Goldman setup. We have the structures inside to actually tokenize a money fund." (Note: There's still time to register for our Bond Fund Symposium, which is later this week, March 19-20, in Boston, Mass. Attendees and Crane Data subscribers may access the conference materials via our Bond Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center. Safe travels to those attending and see you soon!)
He continues, "One story I like to tell is that The Wall Street Journal a few months ago wrote a title that said, 'Federated Tokenized a Money Fund.' Our independent director said, 'Well, wait, you didn't tell us you were tokenizing a money fund.' Well, the truth is we didn't tokenize the money fund. It's the same money fund; it's just that BNY put the token on it. From the customer standpoint, it looks, tastes, and feels like a tokenized money fund and can be used that way. You get this kind of education and confusion going. But we're working on it. The governments are working on it. The regulators are working on it. Everybody can see that it could work. But the use cases are not yet profound and not yet really lighting fires under people."
Donahue then says, "Okay, if we begin with the difference between the institutional trade and the retail trade, it'll be helpful. As long as the Fed is lowering rates, whether it's gradual over time, big amounts or whatever, then it's immediately obvious that the money market funds of the 45-day average maturity is going to have a higher yield than the spot rate on T-bills or even repo. The institutional people really like this, and they like a higher yield. That's not that complicated. That institutional money is still available to come into the funds. On the retail side, it's not so much what the spot market's doing, it's what the bank doing.... What are the deposit rates? Right now, and more or less forever, the bank deposit rates are going to be lower than the mutual fund rates."
He says of bank deposit rates, "They vary all over the lot from 10 or 15 basis points to a few hundred basis points, but nonetheless, less than the money fund. If you add to that, if people's balance sheets are going up, market moves to the contrary recently notwithstanding, their percentage of cash also goes up. So that in an up market, money fund assets go up. In a down market, what happens? People go risk off, they get more defensive, and guess what? Money market assets go up. How could this be a bad business? When it goes up, you go up, and when it goes down, you go [up]. It's really nice. Corporations are always going to be having cash. Now some of those corporate treasurers will sell their mother for a basis point."
Donahue adds, "You know, those are [the] kinds of clients. You have state pools, which are tremendous.... Think about a state. The taxes come in, the money goes out, the ebb and flow. Even in the first quarter, we had less [outflows] than usual. We usually have a drawdown, and it basically did not happen. That's another non-correlated cash movement inside the Federated fort. That helps tremendously because if you have a variety of clients all doing different things at different times, makes the whole effort a lot stronger."
Talking about digital assets, he states, "If you're a Coinbase guy and that's your wallet, that's your world, you're gonna want your money fund right there.... That's not our clients. Okay, that's lovely people, but that's not our clients, and that's not the world yet. You could see moves where collateral, where that becomes important. That's expensive to move, and how do you do it? That could be another use case."
Donahue comments, "Everybody talks about the fact that some companies and international transactions want 24-by-7 all around the globe. Yes, that's true. But we don't have clients that are, you know, clawing at the door to make that happen. At the end of the day, if you foresee, as we do, that blockchain is gonna be a better way to [go] it's gotta come at a time when the client sees it as a solution. The clients have to really wanna make this happen. I don't know when the tipping point will be."
Finally, he says, "As we look out, we are seeing roll-up opportunities. They show up periodically, almost ongoing. What is a roll-up opportunity? Somebody has a fund or a bunch of funds. They're sort of languid. They're not doing anything. They can't be sold. What are you gonna do with them? Then they find a warm and loving home at Federated Hermes. We don't take the people, we just merge the fund in, and this is lumpy growth. We're talking about some of those right now. On bigger ones, we are not. Let's talk about the real biggest ones, the ones that are all in the news. We're not inclined to do those types of deals."
In other news, money fund yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) inched lower by one basis point to 3.47% on average during the week ended Friday, March 13 (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index), after decreasing 1 basis point the week prior. Fund yields haven't been below 3.5% since November 2022, and they are down from a recent high of 5.20% in November 2023. They should remain flat in coming days (and weeks), since the market expects the Fed to leave rates unchanged at their meeting this week. Yields were 3.49% on 2/28/26, 3.50% on 1/31/26, 3.58% on 12/31/25, 3.78% on 11/30, 3.90% on 10/31, 3.94% on 9/30, 4.11% on 8/31, 4.12% on 7/31, 4.13% on 6/30, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/31/24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23.
The broader Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 682), shows a 7-day yield of 3.37%, down 1 bp in the week through Friday. Prime Inst money fund yields were down 1 bp at 3.59% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 3.47%. Treasury Inst MFs were down 1 bp at 3.43%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 3.20%, Government Retail MFs yield 3.18% and Prime Retail MFs yield 3.37%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 30 bps to 1.83%.
Money market mutual fund assets have paused since hitting a record high of $8.271 trillion on March 3, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. Assets have fallen $22.8 billion in the week through Friday, and they've decreased by $19.0 billion in March month-to-date (through 3/13). MMF assets increased by $99.5 billion in February, $32.9 billion in January, $126.3 billion in December, $132.8 billion in November, $142.1 billion in October, $105.2 billion in September and $132.0 billion in August. They rose by $63.7 billion in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. But MMFs decreased $24.4 billion in April and increased by $2.8 billion last March.
Weighted average maturities were at 42 days for the Crane MFA and 44 days the Crane 100 Money Fund Index. According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (3/13), just 161 money funds (out of 792 total) yield under 3.0% with $190.0 billion in assets, or 2.3%, while the vast majority (631) of funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($8.032 trillion, or 97.7%). No funds yield over 4.0%.
Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.30%, after falling 1 basis point twelve weeks prior. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of March 13, shows no changes over the past week. Four of the 10 major brokerages tracked by our BSI offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Schwab.
Crane Data's latest Money Fund Intelligence International shows that assets in European or "offshore" money market mutual funds decreased over the past 30 days to $1.652 trillion, falling from a record $1.662 trillion the month prior. Yields were mostly lower, while assets for USD, EUR and GBP MMFs all fell over the past month. Like U.S. money fund assets, European MMFs have repeatedly hit record highs in 2023, 2024 and 2025 (after a pause in Q2'25). These U.S.-style money funds, domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg and denominated in US Dollars, Pound Sterling and Euros, decreased by $9.9 billion over the 30 days through 3/12. The totals are up $68.0 billion (4.3%) year-to-date for 2026. They were up $151.9 billion (10.6%) for 2025, up $235.3 billion (19.7%) for 2024 and 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 USD. 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.) (Note too: Mark your calendars for our next European Money Fund Symposium, which will be held Sept. 24-25 in Paris, France. Watch for the preliminary agenda to be released in coming weeks.)
Offshore US Dollar money funds decreased $2.8 billion over the last 30 days and are up $39.7 billion YTD to $875.7 billion; they increased $92.3 billion in 2025. Euro funds decreased E4.1 billion over the past month. YTD, they're up E11.6 billion to E342.0 billion, for 2025, they increased by E12.6 billion. GBP money funds decreased L1.8 billion over 30 days, and they're up L11.1 billion YTD at L284.2B, for 2025, they rose L18.5 billion. U.S. Dollar (USD) money funds (317) account for over half (53.0%) of the "European" money fund total, while Euro (EUR) money funds (231) make up 24.0% and Pound Sterling (GBP) funds (208) total 23.0%. 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 3.59% (7-Day) on average (as of 3/12/26), down 3 bps 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 1.92% on average, unchanged 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 31 months ago, but they broke back below 5.0% 20 months ago. They now yield 3.72%, down 3 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 March MFI International Portfolio Holdings, with data as of 2/28/26, show that European-domiciled US Dollar MMFs, on average, consist of 30% in Commercial Paper (CP), 17% in Certificates of Deposit (CDs), 24% in Repo, 17% in Treasury securities, 10% in Other securities (primarily Time Deposits) and 2% in Government Agency securities. USD funds have on average 45.7% of their portfolios maturing Overnight, 6.4% maturing in 2-7 Days, 7.5% maturing in 8-30 Days, 9.6% maturing in 31-60 Days, 7.9% maturing in 61-90 Days, 14.9% maturing in 91-180 Days and 8.0% maturing beyond 181 Days. USD holdings are affiliated with the following countries: the U.S. (34.6%), Canada (11.6%), France (10.6%), Japan (8.4%), the Netherlands (5.8%), Germany (5.5%), Australia (5.2%), the U.K. (5.1%), Sweden (2.8%) and Finland (2.4%).
The 10 Largest Issuers to "offshore" USD money funds include: the US Treasury with $150.1B (17.0%), Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $40.6B (4.6%), RBC with $29.8B (3.4%), JP Morgan with $28.2B (3.2%), Credit Agricole with $27.6B (3.1%), Barclays PLC with $21.5B (2.4%), Wells Fargo with $20.6B (2.3%), Toronto-Dominion Bank with $20.4B (2.3%), Nordea Bank with $19.5B (2.2%) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc with $18.1B (2.1%).
Euro MMFs tracked by Crane Data contain, on average 39% in CP, 23% in CDs, 14% in Other (primarily Time Deposits), 20% in Repo, 4% in Treasuries and 0% in Agency securities. EUR funds have on average 35.4% of their portfolios maturing Overnight, 9.2% maturing in 2-7 Days, 9.6% maturing in 8-30 Days, 13.7% maturing in 31-60 Days, 8.5% maturing in 61-90 Days, 15.2% maturing in 91-180 Days and 8.4% maturing beyond 181 Days. EUR MMF holdings are affiliated with the following countries: France (26.2%), Japan (10.0%), the U.S. (9.8%), Canada (9.6%), the Netherlands (7.8%), Germany (6.5%), the U.K. (5.0%), Australia (4.1%), Finland (3.8%) and Belgium (3.4%).
The 10 Largest Issuers to "offshore" EUR money funds include: Credit Agricole with E17.7B (5.7%), BNP Paribas with E16.6B (5.4%), JP Morgan with E12.0B (3.9%), ING Bank with E11.6B (3.7%), Societe Generale with E8.4B (2.7%), Agence Central de Organismes de Securite Sociale with E8.2B (2.7%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp with E7.9B (2.5%), Nordea Bank with E7.8B (2.5%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd with E7.6B (2.5%) and Bank of Nova Scotia with E7.5B (2.4%).
The GBP funds tracked by MFI International contain, on average (as of 2/28/26): 37% in CDs, 21% in CP, 20% in Other (Time Deposits), 18% in Repo, 3% in Treasury and 1% in Agency. Sterling funds have on average 36.3% of their portfolios maturing Overnight, 5.9% maturing in 2-7 Days, 9.2% maturing in 8-30 Days, 12.3% maturing in 31-60 Days, 11.6% maturing in 61-90 Days, 13.6% maturing in 91-180 Days and 10.9% maturing beyond 181 Days. GBP MMF holdings are affiliated with the following countries: Canada (16.6%), France (15.6%), Japan (13.0%), the U.K. (11.9%), the U.S. (10.5%), Australia (7.4%), the Netherlands (5.5%), Singapore (3.7%), Finland (2.7%) and Sweden (2.4%).
The 10 Largest Issuers to "offshore" GBP money funds include: UK Treasury with L14.5B (5.5%), RBC with L14.0B (5.4%), BNP Paribas with L11.2B (4.3%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank with L9.2B (3.5%), JP Morgan with L8.2B (3.1%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd with L8.0B (3.1%), Bank of Nova Scotia with L7.8B (3.0%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp with L7.4B (2.8%), Citi with L7.2B (2.8%) and Toronto-Dominion Bank with L7.1B (2.7%).
The March issue of our Bond Fund Intelligence, which will be sent to subscribers Friday a.m., features the articles, "Vanguard Examines Bond Index Funds and Tracking," which reviews a paper on the challenges of managing funds to an index; and "Invesco Launches Four More Bond ETFs: Flex, MBS, Hybrid," which covers the launch of several new fixed income ETFs. BFI also recaps the latest Bond Fund News and includes our Crane BFI Indexes, which show that bond fund returns jumped again while yields were mixed in February. 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, and join us next week for our upcoming Bond Fund Symposium, which is March 19-20 in Boston, Mass.)
BFI's lead article states, "Vanguard writes that, 'The right tools can help bond index funds stay on track.' The paper explains, 'An index fund is designed to capture the risk and return of an appropriate benchmark. While achieving that sounds easy, it requires a sophisticated approach. The challenges are amplified for bond index fund managers because of the breadth and liquidity features of bond markets. This research explores how bond index fund managers, amid uncertain and dynamic markets, navigate complexity and volatility to keep portfolios closely aligned with their benchmarks while remaining agile enough to seize opportunities.'"
It continues, "The paper states, 'Equity index fund managers typically achieve tight benchmark tracking by owning all index securities in their proportional weights. For bond index fund managers, this is generally impractical because the bond market is so large -- the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index contained nearly 14,000 securities as of September 2025 -- and many bonds trade with limited liquidity.'"
Our "Invesco" article states, "A release, 'Invesco Advances Its Fixed Income ETF Lineup with Launch of Four New Funds,' tells us, 'Invesco Ltd. (IVZ), a leading global asset management firm, announced ... the launch of four fixed income ETFs that further strengthen the firm's long-standing fixed income ETF lineup. These new ETFs are designed to help investors address some of the current investment challenges including persistent interest-rate uncertainty, the need for diversified income, and a means to manage risk across changing market conditions.'"
The piece continues, "It explains, 'The four ETFs launched today by Invesco include: Invesco Flexible Income ETF (FLXI), Invesco Agency MBS ETF (IMTG), Invesco MSCI Treasury Duration Rotation ETF (TROT) and Invesco U.S. Hybrid Bond ETF (HBRD).'"
Our first News brief, "Returns Jump Again, Yields Mixed in Feb," states, "Bond fund returns were higher once more in February while yields were mixed. Our BFI Total Index rose 0.92% over 1-month and rose 5.83% over 12 months. (Money funds rose 4.02% over 1-year as measured by our Crane 100 Index.) The BFI 100 increased 1.15% in Feb. and rose 6.38% over 12 mos. Our BFI Conservative Ultra-Short Index was up 0.34% over 1-month and 4.61% for 1-year; Ultra-Shorts rose 0.30% and 4.64%. Short-Term gained 0.52% and 5.43%, and Intm-Term rose 1.46% in Feb. and 6.70% over 12 mos. BFI's Long-Term Index was up 1.64% and up 6.25%. High Yield returned 0.10% in February and 6.28% over 12 months."
A second News brief, "Morningstar on 'Why This Municipal-Bond Fund Is a Topnotch Offering.' They state, 'Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt (VWIUX) combines experienced leadership with a disciplined approach that stands out and delivers consistently strong results versus muni-national intermediate Morningstar Category peers. Deep muni market experience underpins the team’s stability and consistency. Industry veteran James D’Arcy has led this portfolio since 2013 and has contributed to the firm’s municipal franchise since 2011. The firm added Mathew Kiselak to the portfolio in late 2023 to bolster the management team’s depth.'"
Another brief says, "'State Street Investment Management Expands Industry’s First Actively Managed Corporate Target Maturity ETFs Suite,' says a press release. It explains, 'State Street Investment Management announced ... the launch of five actively managed target maturity high yield corporate bond ETFs. In providing access to high yield bonds with matching maturity years ranging from 2027 to 2031, the newest State Street MyIncome ETFs help simplify the process of building custom bond ladder portfolios.'"
A BFI sidebar, "MStar: Intm Core Bond Funds," says, "Morningstar writes on '8 Top-Performing Intermediate Core Bond Funds.' They explain, 'Intermediate core bond funds often form the backbone of investors' fixed-income portfolios. Morningstar analysts have given the following eight funds their high-conviction Morningstar Medalist Ratings, meaning they believe the funds will continue to outperform their peers. To screen for the top-performing funds in this category, we looked for those with the best returns over the last one-, three-, and five-year periods.'"
Finally, another sidebar, "NY Fed on Corporate Risk," states, "The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Liberty Street Economics blog writes on 'Estimating the Term Structure of Corporate Bond Risk Premia.' It says, 'Understanding how short- and long-term assets are priced is one of the fundamental questions in finance. The term structure of risk premia allows us to perform net present value calculations, test asset pricing models, and potentially explain the sources of many cross-sectional asset pricing anomalies. In this post, I construct a forward-looking estimate of the term structure of risk premia in the corporate bond market following Jankauskas (2024). The U.S. corporate bond market is an ideal laboratory for studying the relationship between risk premia and maturity because of its large size (standing at roughly $16 trillion as of the end of 2024) and because the maturities are well defined.'"
J.P. Morgan Securities' latest "Short-Term Fixed Income" weekly features a section titled, "Corporates maintain large liquidity portfolios, and even larger cash balances." It states, "As expected, corporations continue to maintain large liquidity portfolios. Based on balance sheet data for S&P 500 non-financial companies, we estimate liquidity portfolio balances as of 4Q25 registered $2.6tn, an increase of $119bn QoQ and $257bn YoY. At these levels, they surpass even the prior peak of $2.5tn in the months after Covid in 2020." (Note: Please join us next week for our Bond Fund Symposium, March 19-20 in Boston. We're still taking registrations!)
The brief continues, "Notably, cash and cash equivalents rose materially, even as investment securities drove most of the increase in liquidity portfolios. We estimate aggregate cash and cash equivalents rose by nearly $117bn last year, reaching $1.38tn by 4Q25.... This marks one of the larger annual increases in cash and cash equivalents, though still behind what we saw in 2020 and 2023. Still, as far as cash levels go, at these levels, this will be the highest amount of cash and cash equivalents corporations have held in at least a decade."
It says, "Not surprisingly, the increase was not broad-based and concentrated in sectors that generally hold more liquidity. A handful of sectors drove most of last year's growth in cash positions: Information Technology added about $47bn, Communication Services $36bn, Health Care $20bn, and Consumer Discretionary $8bn. Outside these sectors, cash balances across other non-financial corporates remained largely flat."
JPM explains, "The timing of the rise in cash and cash equivalents is just as notable as the magnitude.... The growth in cash positions last year was concentrated in 3Q and 4Q ... most of the increase in cash and cash equivalents in 2025 occurred in the second half of last year. While it is typical for companies to carry higher cash balances later in the year due to seasonality, the growth in 2H25 was meaningfully larger than in prior years. Among the hyperscalers, the buildup in cash coincided with a sharp rise in long-term debt issuance. Based on 10-Qs, these companies increased their long-term debt by nearly $100bn in 2H25, while their cash holdings rose by almost $80bn over the same period."
They tell us, "This dynamic mattered for the front end. Taxable MMFs posted standout growth in 2025, with AUMs rising roughly $920bn to nearly $8tn. It's possible that some portion of this growth was attributable to hyperscalers and other large corporates debt proceeds being placed in MMFs."
The piece adds, "To that end, MMF AUMs have already increased by more than $150bn year-to-date, lifting total AUMs to roughly $8.1tn and tracking modestly ahead of the pace observed over 2023–2025.... To the extent that corporations continue to raise debt with proceeds that are not immediately deployed, it is possible that a portion of those funds could be temporarily placed in a taxable MMF. Together with the reinvestment of interest income and still attractive MMF yields, the backdrop remains supportive of further increases in MMF balances through the year."
J.P. Morgan Asset Management recently published an insight titled, "Policy divergence reshapes the front end: Implications for Global Liquidity in 2026." It tells us, "Following a broadly synchronised monetary policy easing phase over the past few years as inflation retreated, central banks are beginning to chart different courses based on local rather than global macroeconomic conditions. We believe this divergence is likely to shape short-term rate behaviour through 2026, though geopolitical risks and economic data surprises could still push central bank off course."
JPM continues, "Monetary policy in several major economies retains an easing bias, while fiscal policy remains supportive. In our view, this combination continues to underpin liquidity conditions. At the same time, the risk landscape is evolving. Geopolitical tensions, lingering trade worries, fiscal sustainability concerns and elevated corporate debt issuance may contribute to episodic volatility."
They write, "We believe central bank divergence has replaced synchronised easing as the defining front-end theme for 2026. This shift is likely to result in more volatile short-term rate outcomes and sharper responses to local data and policy signals. While the overall policy bias in several major economies remains toward easing, geopolitical and fiscal risks warrant continued vigilance."
The piece adds, "In this environment, we recommend a focus on liquidity and diversification -- maintaining high-quality exposures, managing duration actively and stress-testing portfolios for policy and geopolitical uncertainty remain central to prudent liquidity management. Cash segmenting is also advisable: Operating balances may remain in money market strategies prioritising liquidity and capital preservation. More stable balances may consider selective extension into ultra-short strategies, subject to risk tolerance and liquidity needs."
Crane Data's March Money Fund Portfolio Holdings, with data as of Feb. 28, 2026, show that holdings of Treasuries and Repo both increased. Money market securities held by Taxable U.S. money funds (tracked by Crane Data) increased by $113.2 billion to $8.178 trillion in February, after decreasing $54.6 billion in January. They increased $231.8 billion in December, $134.3 billion in November, $158.4 billion in October, $56.1 billion in September, $166.6 billion in August, $17.6 billion in July, $84.0 billion in June and $72.0 billion in May. They decreased by $73.8 billion in April, and rose by $45.6 billion last March. Treasuries, the largest portfolio composition segment, increased by $26.8 billion. Repo, the second largest segment, increased $43.5 billion in February. Agencies were the third largest segment, and CP remained fourth, ahead of CDs, Other/Time Deposits and VRDNs. Below, we review our Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics. (Visit our Content center to download, or contact us to request our latest Portfolio Holdings reports.)
Among taxable money funds, Treasury securities increased $26.8 billion (0.8%) to $3.401 trillion, or 41.6% of holdings, after decreasing $135.2 billion in January, increasing $44.8 billion in December, $67.4 billion in November, $180.5 billion in October, $78.0 billion in September, increasing $414.3 billion in August, increasing $117.3 billion in July, decreasing $98.4 billion in June and decreasing $2.1 billion in May. Repurchase Agreements (repo) increased $43.5 billion (1.5%) to $2.992 trillion, or 36.6% of holdings, in February, after decreasing $33.5 billion in January, increasing $156.0 billion in December, $69.5 billion in November, decreasing $6.0 billion in October, increasing $27.2 billion in September, decreasing $236.2 billion in August, decreasing $128.1 billion in July, increasing $194.2 billion in June and increasing $63.3 billion in May. Government Agency Debt was up $28.4 billion, or 2.7%, to $1.095 trillion, or 13.4% of holdings. Agencies increased $60.5 billion in January, $22.9 billion in December, decreased $4.0 billion in November, $2.8 billion in October, increased $22.8 billion in September, decreased $18.7 billion in August, increased $0.8 billion in July, $8.8 billion in June and $4.8 billion in May. Repo, Treasuries and Agency holdings now total $7.489 trillion, representing 91.6% of all taxable holdings.
Money fund holdings of CP and CDs fell while Other (mainly Time Deposits) rose in February. Commercial Paper (CP) decreased $4.3 billion (-1.3%) to $314.3 billion, or 3.8% of holdings. CP holdings increased $39.3 billion in January, decreased $26.7 billion in December, increased $0.6 billion in November, increased $2.0 billion in October, decreased $18.3 billion in September, increased $7.6 billion in August and increased $12.3 billion in July. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) decreased $2.5 billion (-1.2%) to $204.4 billion, or 2.5% of taxable assets. CDs increased $23.2 billion in January, decreased $0.7 billion in December, decreased $5.1 billion in November, increased $0.1 billion in October, decreased $16.5 billion in September, increased $3.4 billion in August and increased $1.9 billion in July. Other holdings, primarily Time Deposits, increased $21.0 billion (15.8%) to $154.3 billion, or 1.9% of holdings, after decreasing $8.7 billion in January, increasing $34.5 billion in December, increasing $6.2 billion in November, decreasing $15.8 billion in October, $36.8 billion in September, decreasing $4.4 billion in August and increasing $13.0 billion in July. VRDNs increased to $16.5 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 $1.379 trillion, or 16.9% of taxable money funds' $8.178 trillion total. Among Prime money funds, CDs represent 14.8% (down from 15.1% a month ago), while Commercial Paper accounted for 22.8% (down from 23.3% a month ago). The CP totals are comprised of: Financial Company CP, which makes up 13.8% of total holdings, Asset-Backed CP, which accounts for 6.7%, and Non-Financial Company CP, which makes up 2.3%. Prime funds also hold 0.6% in US Govt Agency Debt, 11.4% in US Treasury Debt, 14.8% in US Treasury Repo, 1.4% in Other Instruments, 7.6% in Non-Negotiable Time Deposits, 10.4% in Other Repo, 14.8% in US Government Agency Repo and 0.9% in VRDNs.
Government money fund portfolios totaled $4.450 trillion (54.4% of all MMF assets), up from $4.392 trillion in January, while Treasury money fund assets totaled another $2.323 trillion (28.4%), up from $2.301 trillion the prior month. Government money fund portfolios were made up of 24.4% US Govt Agency Debt, 18.1% US Government Agency Repo, 32.0% US Treasury Debt, 25.0% in US Treasury Repo, 0.4% in Other Instruments. Treasury money funds were comprised of 77.5% US Treasury Debt and 22.4% in US Treasury Repo. Government and Treasury funds combined now total $6.773 trillion, or 82.8% of all taxable money fund assets.
European-affiliated holdings (including repo) decreased by $3.1 billion in February to $720.5 billion; their share of holdings fell to 8.8% from last month's 9.0%. Eurozone-affiliated holdings increased to $502.1 billion from last month's $496.8 billion; they now account for 6.1% of overall taxable money fund holdings. Asia & Pacific related holdings were down at $334.0 billion (4.1% of the total) from last month's $342.3 billion. Americas related holdings increased to $7.117 trillion from last month's $6.992 trillion; they now represent 87.0% of holdings.
The overall taxable fund Repo totals were made up of: US Treasury Repurchase Agreements (up $11.3 billion, or 0.6%, to $1.839 trillion, or 22.5% of assets); US Government Agency Repurchase Agreements (up $34.8 billion, or 3.6%, to $1.010 trillion, or 12.4% of total holdings), and Other Repurchase Agreements (down $2.6 billion, or -1.8%, to $143.4 billion, or 1.8% of holdings). The Commercial Paper totals were comprised of Financial Company Commercial Paper (down $5.0 billion to $189.8 billion, or 2.3% of assets), Asset-Backed Commercial Paper (up $0.4 billion to $92.3 billion, or 1.1%), and Non-Financial Company Commercial Paper (up $0.4 billion to $32.3 billion, or 0.4%).
The 20 largest Issuers to taxable money market funds as of Feb. 28, 2026, include: the US Treasury ($3.401T, 41.6%), Fixed Income Clearing Corp ($1.169T, 14.3%), Federal Home Loan Bank ($767.9B, 9.4%), JP Morgan ($320.0B, 3.9%), RBC ($219.8B, 2.7%), Federal Farm Credit Bank ($202.5B, 2.5%), Wells Fargo ($181.5B, 2.2%), Citi ($166.2B, 2.0%), BNP Paribas ($162.4B, 2.0%), Bank of America ($109.3B, 1.3%), Barclays PLC ($91.5B, 1.1%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp ($89.4B, 1.1%), Credit Agricole ($82.7B, 1.0%), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp ($70.7B, 0.9%), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ($62.7B, 0.8%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($60.5B, 0.7%), Goldman Sachs ($59.8B, 0.7%), Bank of Montreal ($59.7B, 0.7%), Societe Generale ($58.9B, 0.7%) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($58.0B, 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 ($1.148T, 38.4%), JP Morgan ($308.1B, 10.3%), RBC ($173.8B, 5.8%), Wells Fargo ($172.1B, 5.8%), Citi ($160.8B, 5.4%), BNP Paribas ($154.9B, 5.2%), Bank of America ($77.4B, 2.6%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp ($73.8B, 2.5%), Barclays PLC ($68.8B, 2.3%) and Credit Agricole ($67.2B, 2.2%).
The largest users of the $7.0 billion in Fed RRP include: Vanguard Market Liquidity Fund ($3.4B), American Funds Central Cash ($2.5B), Columbia Short-Term Cash Fund ($0.7B), TCW Central Cash Fund ($0.3B), Cavanal Hill Govt Svc MM ($0.0B), Cavanal Hill US Treas ($0.0B) and American Funds US Govt MMF ($0.0B).
The 10 largest issuers of "credit" -- CDs, CP and Other securities (including Time Deposits and Notes) combined -- include: RBC ($46.0B, 7.8%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($39.1B, 6.7%), Bank of America ($31.9B, 5.4%), Barclays PLC ($22.8B, 3.9%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank ($22.6B, 3.8%), Bank of Montreal ($22.3B, 3.8%), ING Bank ($22.0B, 3.7%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd ($21.8B, 3.7%), Fixed Income Clearing Corp ($21.3B, 3.6%) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($20.7B, 3.5%).
The 10 largest CD issuers include: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank ($18.5B, 9.1%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($16.5B, 8.1%), Bank of America ($14.9B, 7.3%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp ($13.5B, 6.6%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($12.4B, 6.1%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd ($11.6B, 5.7%), Barclays PLC ($11.0B, 5.4%), Wells Fargo ($9.3B, 4.6%), Credit Agricole ($8.7B, 4.3%) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ($8.2B, 4.0%).
The 10 largest CP issuers (we include affiliated ABCP programs) include: RBC ($26.7B, 9.5%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($19.5B, 7.0%), Bank of Montreal ($14.6B, 5.2%), JP Morgan ($11.9B, 4.2%), National Bank of Canada ($10.4B, 3.7%), Barclays PLC ($9.3B, 3.3%), Bank of Nova Scotia ($8.6B, 3.1%), Northcross Capital Management ($7.0B, 2.5%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($6.7B, 2.4%) and Bank of America ($6.7B, 2.4%).
The largest increases among Issuers include: RBC (up $69.0B to $219.8B), the Federal Home Loan Bank (up $26.9B to $767.9B), the US Treasury (up $26.8B to $3.401T), Societe Generale (up $12.9B to $58.9B), Fixed Income Clearing Corp (up $12.7B to $1.169T), Bank of Montreal (up $10.1B to $59.7B), DNB ASA (up $5.9B to $15.4B), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (up $5.6B to $62.7B), Morgan Stanley (up $4.3B to $26.9B) and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (up $3.7B to $7.0B).
The largest decreases among Issuers of money market securities (including Repo) in February were shown by: Citi (down $13.8B to $166.2B), Credit Agricole (down $11.4B to $82.7B), Barclays PLC (down $10.8B to $91.5B), Northern Trust (down $6.9B to $15.0B), Goldman Sachs (down $6.3B to $59.8B), Toronto-Dominion Bank (down $5.7B to $60.5B), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd (down $5.5B to $41.0B), JP Morgan (down $4.4B to $320.0B), HSBC (down $3.9B to $26.1B) and ING Bank (down $3.8B to $31.6B).
The United States remained the largest segment of country-affiliations; it represents 81.5% of holdings, or $6.662 trillion. Canada (5.6%, $454.9B) was in second place, while France (4.3%, $353.5B) ranked third. Japan (3.2%, $262.3B) occupied fourth place. The United Kingdom (2.0%, $166.1B) remained in fifth place. Australia (0.6%, $53.0B) was sixth, followed by Netherlands (0.6%, $51.4B), Germany (0.6%, $50.0B), Spain (0.5%, $44.2B), and Sweden (0.3%, $25.5B). (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 Feb. 28, 2026, Taxable money funds held 45.9% (down from 46.1%) of their assets in securities maturing Overnight, and another 10.7% maturing in 2-7 days (up from 10.1%). Thus, 56.6% in total matures in 1-7 days. Another 9.6% matures in 8-30 days, while 12.1% matures in 31-60 days. Note that over three-quarters, or 78.4% 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 6.9% of taxable securities, while 9.8% matures in 91-180 days, and just 5.1% 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 February 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 Monday. (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 February 28, includes holdings information from 993 money funds (up 11 from last month), representing assets of $8.327 trillion (up from $8.192 trillion a month ago). Prime MMFs rose to $1.263 trillion (up from $1.258 trillion), or 15.2% 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 $21.8 billion (annualized) in February. (Note: Please join us for our upcoming Bond Fund Symposium, which is March 19-20 in Boston. We hope to see you later next week!)
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 $3.386 trillion (up from $3.362 trillion), or 40.7% of all assets, while Repo holdings rose to $3.001 trillion (up from $2.948 trillion), or 36.0% of all holdings. Government Agency securities total $1.099 trillion (up from $1.057 trillion), or 13.2%. Holdings of Treasuries, Government agencies and Repo (almost all of which is backed by Treasuries and agencies) combined total $7.487 trillion, or a massive 89.9% of all holdings.
The Other category (primarily Time Deposits) totals $163.9 billion (up from $142.5 billion), or 2.0%, and Commercial Paper (CP) totals $325.7 billion (down from $329.5 billion), or 3.9% of all holdings. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) total $204.2 billion (down from $206.7 billion), 2.5%, and VRDNs account for $146.2 billion (down from $146.3 billion), or 1.8% of money fund securities.
Broken out into the SEC's more detailed categories, the CP totals were comprised of: $189.8 billion, or 2.3%, in Financial Company Commercial Paper; $92.1 billion, or 1.1%, in Asset Backed Commercial Paper; and $43.8 billion, or 0.5%, in Non-Financial Company Commercial Paper. The Repo totals were made up of: U.S. Treasury Repo ($1.855 trillion, or 22.3%), U.S. Govt Agency Repo ($997.1 billion, or 12.0%) and Other Repo ($148.8 billion, or 1.8%).
The N-MFP Holdings summary for the Prime Money Market Funds shows: CP holdings of $277.3 billion (down from $285.1 billion), or 22.0%; Repo holdings of $518.0 billion (down from $538.1 billion), or 41.0%; Treasury holdings of $156.5 billion (up from $129.6 billion), or 12.4%; CD holdings of $177.1 billion (down from $180.2 billion), or 14.0%; Other (primarily Time Deposits) holdings of $114.0 billion (up from $103.6 billion), or 9.0%; Government Agency holdings of $8.1 billion (down from $9.3 billion), or 0.6%; and VRDN holdings of $12.0 billion (up from $11.5 billion), or 0.9%.
The SEC's more detailed categories show CP in Prime MMFs made up of: $171.3 billion (down from $177.4 billion), or 13.6%, in Financial Company Commercial Paper; $76.6 billion (down from $77.0 billion), or 6.1%, in Asset Backed Commercial Paper; and $29.4 billion (down from $30.6 billion), or 2.3%, in Non-Financial Company Commercial Paper. The Repo totals include: U.S. Treasury Repo ($189.7 billion, or 15.0%), U.S. Govt Agency Repo ($195.7 billion, or 15.5%), and Other Repo ($132.6 billion, or 10.5%).
In related news, money fund charged expense ratios (Exp%) were mostly flat in February. Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index and Crane Money Fund Average were 0.26% and 0.37%, respectively, as of February 28, 2026. 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 Monday 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 0.26% down 1 bp from last month's level (also 18 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 0.37% as of February 28, 2026, unchanged from the month prior and slightly below the 0.40% at year-end 2019.
Crane Data's latest monthly Money Fund Market Share rankings show assets up among the largest U.S. money fund complexes in February, after being mixed in January, and jumping in November and December. Assets have increased in 19 of the past 20 months (only April 2025 saw declines). Money market fund assets rose by $94.0 billion, or 1.2%, last month to a record $8.244 trillion. Total MMF assets have increased by $256.0 billion, or 3.2%, over the past 3 months, and they've increased by $913.7 billion, or 12.5%, over the past 12 months. The largest increases among the 25 largest managers last month were seen by American Funds, SSIM, Fidelity, Invesco and Federated Hermes, which grew assets by $16.5 billion, $13.1B, $12.5B, $11.6B and $9.8B, respectively. Declines in February were seen by Allspring, JPMorgan, UBS, BNY Dreyfus, and Northern, which decreased by $5.3 billion, $4.7B, $2.7B, $2.5B and $23M, 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 higher in February.
Over the past year through Feb. 28, 2026, Fidelity (up $178.4B, or 11.9%), JPMorgan (up $126.4B, or 16.1%), Vanguard (up $99.5B, or 15.1%), BlackRock (up $94.6B, or 15.5%) and Schwab (up $70.5B, or 11.3%) were the largest gainers. JPMorgan, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Morgan Stanley and Federated Hermes had the largest asset increases over the past 3 months, rising by $52.6B, $41.9B, $38.5B, $28.2B and $20.5B, respectively. The largest decline over 12 months was seen by: DWS (down $2.9B). The largest declines over 3 months included: Allspring (down $7.8B), DWS (down $888M) and BNY Dreyfus (down $843M).
Our latest domestic U.S. Money Fund Family Rankings show that Fidelity Investments remains the largest money fund manager with $1.679 trillion, or 20.4% of all assets. Fidelity was up $12.5B in February, up $41.9B over 3 mos., and up $178.4B over 12 months. JPMorgan ranked second with $912.4 billion, or 11.1% market share (down $4.7B, up $52.6B and up $126.4B for the past 1-month, 3-mos. and 12-mos., respectively). Vanguard ranked in third place with $758.6 billion, or 9.2% of assets (up $5.8B, up $18.4B and up $99.5B). BlackRock ranked fourth with $706.3 billion, or 8.6% market share (up $9.5B, up $18.8B and up $94.6B), while Schwab was the fifth largest MMF manager with $695.5 billion, or 8.4% of assets (up $2.8B, up $9.9B and up $70.5B for the past 1-month, 3-mos. and 12-mos.).
Federated Hermes was in sixth place with $529.8 billion, or 6.4% (up $9.8B, up $20.5B and up $44.2B), while Goldman Sachs was in seventh place with $482.4 billion, or 5.9% of assets (up $9.2B, up $8.1B and up $27.3B). BNY Dreyfus ($339.8B, or 4.1%) was in eighth place (down $2.5B, down $843M and up $45.7B), followed by Morgan Stanley ($338.5B, or 4.1%; up $4.8B, up $28.2B and up $38.8B). SSIM was in 10th place ($313.9B, or 3.8%; up $13.1B, up $16.6B and up $58.6B).
The 11th through 20th-largest U.S. money fund managers (in order) include: Allspring ($228.5B, or 2.8%), Northern ($203.3B, or 2.5%), First American ($196.2B, or 2.4%), American Funds ($168.4B, or 2.0%), Invesco ($164.2B, or 2.0%), UBS ($123.6B, or 1.5%), T Rowe Price ($54.4B, or 0.7%), HSBC ($51.2B, or 0.6%), Franklin Templeton ($49.5B, or 0.6%) and DWS ($36.5B, or 0.4%). Crane Data currently tracks 58 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 the No. 4 spot. 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 BNY Dreyfus moves down to the No. 9 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 ($1.703 trillion), JP Morgan ($1.210 trillion), BlackRock ($1.070 trillion), Vanguard ($758.6B) and Schwab ($695.5B). Goldman Sachs ($654.2B) was in sixth, Federated Hermes ($543.6B) was seventh, followed by Morgan Stanley ($449.5B), Dreyfus/BNY ($405.0B) and SSIM ($367.1B), 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 March issue of our Money Fund Intelligence and MFI XLS, with data as of 2/28/26, shows that yields were down in February across most of the Crane Money Fund Indexes. The Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds covered by Crane Data (currently 729), was 3.39% (unchanged) for the 7-Day Yield (annualized, net) Average, the 30-Day Yield was down 2 bps to 3.39%. The MFA's Gross 7-Day Yield was at 3.76% (unchanged), and the Gross 30-Day Yield was down 2 bps at 3.76%. (Gross yields will be revised once we download the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 2/28/26 on Monday.)
Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index shows an average 7-Day (Net) Yield of 3.50% (unchanged) and an average 30-Day Yield at 3.49% (down 2 bps). The Crane 100 shows a Gross 7-Day Yield of 3.76% (unchanged), and a Gross 30-Day Yield of 3.76% (down 2 bps). Our Prime Institutional MF Index (7-day) yielded 3.61% (down 1 bp) as of February 28. The Crane Govt Inst Index was at 3.49% (down 1 bp) and the Treasury Inst Index was at 3.46% (unchanged). Thus, the spread between Prime funds and Treasury funds is 15 basis points, and the spread between Prime funds and Govt funds is 12 basis points. The Crane Prime Retail Index yielded 3.37% (down 1 bp), while the Govt Retail Index was 3.20% (unchanged), the Treasury Retail Index was 3.22% (unchanged from the month prior). The Crane Tax Exempt MF Index yielded 1.76% (up 7 bps) at the end of February.
Gross 7-Day Yields for these indexes to end February were: Prime Inst 3.84% (down 1 bp), Govt Inst 3.74% (unchanged), Treasury Inst 3.74% (unchanged), Prime Retail 3.86% (down 1 bp), Govt Retail 3.74% (unchanged) and Treasury Retail 3.74% (unchanged). The Crane Tax Exempt Index rose to 2.15% (up 7 bps). The Crane 100 MF Index returned on average 0.28% over 1-month, 0.89% over 3-months, 0.58% YTD, 4.02% over the past 1-year, 4.66% over 3-years annualized), 3.18% over 5-years, and 2.08% over 10-years.
The total number of funds, including taxable and tax-exempt, was up 2 in February at 840. There are currently 729 taxable funds, up 2 from the previous month, and 111 tax-exempt money funds (unchanged from last month). (Contact us if you'd like to see our latest MFI XLS, Crane Indexes or Market Share report.)
The March issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the articles: "More Tokenized MMFs But Stablecoin Growth Stalling," which discusses a new tokenized MMF entrant and stablecoin balances; "State Street Prime, ProShares Money Market ETFs Go Live," which reviews the latest launches of money market ETFs; and "Federated's Cunningham on Money Funds' New Normal," which looks at the continued strength in money fund assets. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Friday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 2/28/26 data. Our March Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Tuesday, March 10, and our March Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Friday, March 13. (Note: Register ASAP for our upcoming Bond Fund Symposium, Crane Data's ultra-short bond fund conference. BFS will take place in just 2 weeks -- March 19-20 in Boston!)
MFI's "Tokenized MMFs" story says, "While the buzz around tokenized money market funds continues to grow, stablecoin balances have begun declining for the first time ever. On the tokenized MMF side, a press release titled, 'Northern Trust Asset Management Enters Digital Assets Market with Launch of Tokenized Money Market Share Class' tells us, 'Northern Trust Asset Management ... launched a tokenized share class for its NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio. Marking the firm's entry into the digital assets market, the tokenized share class represents a digital mirror record of the fund's institutional share class using blockchain technology.' It explains, 'This offering will initially be available to clients on BNY's market leading LiquidityDirect platform, which utilizes Goldman Sachs Digital Asset Platform.'"
The story continues, "Paula Kar, Northern Trust Asset Management's Chief Product Officer, comments, 'This launch reflects Northern Trust Asset Management's commitment to delivering secure, efficient, and innovative liquidity solutions for institutional investors. Tokenization delivers meaningful advantages, including improved settlement efficiency and enhanced visibility. Money market funds are on the leading edge of digital innovation, and we are excited to advance our product suite in this evolving space.'"
We write in the "Money Market ETFs," story, "A press release, 'State Street Investment Management Unveils New Actively Managed Prime Money Market ETF,' tells us, 'State Street Investment Management ... announced the launch of the State Street Prime Money Market ETF (MMK), an actively managed ETF designed to meet the cash management needs of investors seeking the convenience, transparency and trading flexibility of ETFs.'"
It quotes Anna Paglia, Chief Business Officer for State Street Investment Management, "For decades, State Street Investment Management has delivered cash solutions to many of the world's most sophisticated institutional investors. With the launch of MMK, that same expertise becomes accessible to all investors looking for ways to manage their cash with an emphasis on income, liquidity and flexibility.'"
Our third article says, "Federated Hermes' latest monthly insight asks, 'Has the floor been raised for the money markets?' Money Market CIO Deborah Cunningham writes, 'There are essentially two ways an extraordinary development can play out: reverting to the mean or creating a new status quo. In finance, the latter is rare, but we believe 2026 is shaping up to be just that for the money markets.'"
It continues, "She explains, 'Many would agree that the collective performance of stable value products since mid-2022 has indeed been extraordinary, riding on the back of Federal Reserve rate hikes, and rising to their highest level in decades. The high watermark for yields came the following year, with the target fed funds range reaching 5.25-5.50% and the Crane 100 Money Fund Index touching 5.20%. Funds poured into money market funds, pushing assets under management (AUM) to record highs.'"
MFI also includes the News brief, "Bloomberg on Record MMF Assets." It says, "They write, 'Money Fund Assets Rise to Record $8.27 Trillion in Dash for Cash.' The piece explains, 'Investors are rushing into US money-market funds, lifting total assets to a record $8.271 trillion, as the war in Iran fuels a broad flight to safety. Some $49 billion flowed into money-market funds in the week ending March 3, according to the latest figures from Crane Data.'"
Another News brief, "Reuters: 'Wall Street Regulator Allows Intraday Trading of Tokenized WisdomTree Money Market Fund.' They comment, 'The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ... said it had granted a special request from the asset manager WisdomTree to allow intraday trading in tokenized shares of a money market fund, adding that this could speed settlement times and ease access for retail investors.'"
A third News brief, "SSIM's latest 'Monthly Cash Review' is titled, 'A Hawk at the Door.' The piece states, 'From a markets perspective, January, as usual, 'came in hot.' Flows were positive and the maturity schedule is heavy, pushing technicals tighter. Spreads have rallied across fixed and float, with fixed looking a bit too proud of itself at 3-4 bps tighter. There's not much value in extending out the curve unless you enjoy chasing things that don't want to be caught. Most investors are holding back, waiting for February to offer better levels, while fund durations naturally roll down as everyone resists the urge to buy at today's highs.... There's still plenty of cash sloshing around. It's a seller's market, plain and simple.'"
A sidebar, "iShares Short Bond ETFs," says, "ETF Trends writes that 'iShares Moves Short-Term Bond ETFs to the Big Board.' The article comments, 'As the hunt for yield and stability remains a cornerstone of portfolios in 2026, a group of iShares short-term bond ETFs have made a strategic move to the Big Board.... Four prominent short-term fixed-income vehicles have officially transitioned their primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The move involves the $75 billion iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV), the $20 billion iShares 0-1 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHV), the $470 million iShares Prime Money Market ETF (PMMF), and the $95 million iShares Government Money Market ETF (GMMF).'"
Our March MFI XLS, with February 28 data, shows total assets rose $94.0 billion to a record high $8.249 trillion, after increasing $38.5 billion in January, $123.5 billion in December, $129.3 billion in November, $141.5 billion in October, $100.4 billion in September, $129.9 billion in August, $69.0 billion in July, $10.1 billion in June and jumping $90.3 billion in May. MMFs decreased $26.6 billion in April and $4.6 billion last March.
Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was down 1 bp at 3.39%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was unchanged at 3.50% in February. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 3.76% and 3.76%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.37% 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 2/28/26 on Monday, 3/9.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 40 days (up 1 day) and the Crane 100 WAM was unchanged from the previous month at 42 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)
Bloomberg writes, "Money Fund Assets Rise to Record $8.27 Trillion in Dash for Cash." The piece explains, "Investors are rushing into US money-market funds, lifting total assets to a record $8.271 trillion, as the war in Iran fuels a broad flight to safety. Some $49 billion flowed into money-market funds in the week ending March 3, according to the latest figures from Crane Data LLC. About $18.5 billion alone came in on Tuesday as the effects of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran reverberated across markets. The latest funds boosted this year's inflows to more than $162 billion." (Note: Register ASAP for our upcoming Bond Fund Symposium, Crane Data's ultra-short bond fund conference. BFS will take place in just 2 weeks -- March 19-20 in Boston. We hope to see you there!)
They quote TD Securities Strategist Jan Nevruzi, "There definitely was dash to cash," noting the decline in US Treasury yields in recent weeks. "Let's see a few more days of flows." Bloomberg says, "The fast‑moving conflict across the Middle East is heightening investor anxiety and strengthening the case for haven assets, especially cash."
Deborah Cunningham, Federated Hermes' CIO for Global Liquidity, tells Bloomberg, "`Let's not forget the uncertainty pervading the Fed's future, the US economy and geopolitics -- a collective negative vibe that often sends investors to safer harbors."
The article explains, "Inflows into money markets had been expected to continue in 2026 with the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates on hold for now and amid higher tax refunds during the US filing season. However, the pace was expected to slow after the Fed's interest-rate cuts last year which are reflected with a lag in money markets. Corporate treasurers also often prefer to rotate from direct securities into cash products in order to capture yield rather than grapple with it themselves."
It adds, "Tax refunds are running about 10% higher this year, according to Deutsche Bank, boosting inflows. Taxpayers that are expecting refunds tend to file earlier and the cash that is received circulates back into money-market funds. Outflows don't typically surface until March and April as those who owe money to the government wait to file closer to the April 15 deadline."
In other news, a website named Wealth Briefing published, "UK Squeeze On Retail Savings Highlights Money Market Funds' Appeal – Aviva Investors." They comment, "When the UK finance minister, aka Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, squeezed the tax allowances for retail cash savings accounts last year, it forced some wealth managers to rethink how cash is put to work. Such a move puts money market funds -- still a relatively nascent sector in the UK compared with places such as the US -- in a potentially favourable spotlight."
The piece says, "Alastair Sewell, senior investment strategist at Aviva Investors, said Reeves' tightening of allowances on cash ISAs may be a teachable moment. Reeves cut the annual cash ISA allowance from £20,000 ($26,705) to £12,000, starting from April 2027. 'In the UK, money market funds remain underutilised. Bank deposits often pay rates below the Bank of England base rate and cash benchmarks,' Sewell told WealthBriefing in a recent call. 'This environment could trigger a broader re-think of money market funds in the UK.'"
It tells us, "The UK will have some way to go to get even near the US money market sphere -- the latter hit a total of $8.0 trillion in December 2025, a record (source: Crane Data). In the UK, such funds hold about £50 billion. US money market funds have held stable as a share of overall US mutual fund assets for years -- accounting for 17 percent of total mutual fund assets, versus only 3 percent in the UK."
The article adds, "Money market funds typically provide yields materially above the average bank deposit rates. They target a yield in line with short-term reference rates such as SONIA (Sterling Overnight Index Average) -– the replacement for the old LIBOR interbank measure.... One driver and hope for more growth is among younger investors; they have fewer preconceived ideas about what MMFs are and can do, Sewell said. 'We might see a broad generational shift in attitudes towards wealth and investing.'"
Finally, the piece says, "The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has been reviewing how money market funds operate, mindful of potential worries about liquidity strains.... Sewell noted that US dollar-denominated MMFs suffered more stress during that episode than was the case with other currencies. He added that the Aviva Investors Sterling Liquidity Fund yielded 4.00 per cent gross as of 22 January 2026 vs SONIA at 3.73 percent."
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 February 27) includes Holdings information from 54 money funds (down 20 from a week ago), or $3.593 trillion (down from $4.712 trillion) of the $8.241 trillion in total money fund assets (or 43.6%) tracked by Crane Data. (Note: 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 February 11 News, "Feb. Portfolio Holdings: Assets Dip; Agencies Jump, Treasuries Plummet.")
Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $1.663 trillion (down from $2.154 trillion a week ago), or 46.3%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.313 trillion (down from $1.719 trillion a week ago), or 36.5%, and Government Agency securities totaling $361.1 billion (down from $440.5 billion a week ago), or 10.1%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $130.6 billion (down from $180.3 billion a week ago), or 3.6%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $52.3 billion (down from $95.0 billion a week ago), or 1.5%. The Other category accounted for $38.9 billion or 1.1%, while VRDNs accounted for $34.3 billion or 1.0%.
The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $1.663 trillion, Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $438.4B, the Federal Home Loan Bank with $210.9B, JP Morgan with $108.9B, RBC with $101.9B, Federal Farm Credit Bank with $91.9B, BNP Paribas with $87.8B, Citi with $86.2B, Wells Fargo with $73.1B and Bank of America with $54.5B.
The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan US Govt MM ($327.0B), JPMorgan 100% US Trs MM ($312.0B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($289.5B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($271.5B), State Street Inst US Govt ($224.3B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($219.9B), Fidelity Inv MM: MM Port ($167.6B), Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($162.5B), Allspring Govt MM ($129.6B) and First American Govt Oblg ($125.2B). (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, Federated Hermes' latest monthly insight asks, "Has the floor been raised for the money markets?" Money Market CIO Deborah Cunningham writes, "There are essentially two ways an extraordinary development can play out: reverting to the mean or creating a new status quo. In finance, the latter is rare, but we believe 2026 is shaping up to be just that for the money markets."
She explains, "Many would agree that the collective performance of stable value products since mid-2022 has indeed been extraordinary, riding on the back of Federal Reserve rate hikes, and rising to their highest level in decades. The high watermark for yields came the following year, with the target fed funds range reaching 5.25-5.50% and the Crane 100 Money Fund Index touching 5.20%. Funds poured into money market funds, pushing assets under management (AUM) to record highs."
Cunningham says, "But here is where it gets interesting. Logic would say that flows would reverse when the Fed pivoted to lowering rates. Yet even after 150 basis points worth of cuts since 2023, industry money fund AUM have continued to grow, hitting new highs in February of $7.8 trillion according to iMoneyNet and $8.2 trillion according to Crane Data, which calculates its figure differently. As we have said before (Slow and steady), this is in part due to how the laddered structure of money funds has kept yields above the direct Treasury market."
She adds, "But that might not be the entire picture. We are two and a half months past the last rate cut on Dec. 17 and inflows have continued. Furthermore, investors typically redeem a portion of their money market funds in the first quarter of a given year in a reversal of the seasonal surge in December and in preparation for upcoming tax payments. Not last year, as assets increased over those three months. And likely not this year, either, if March follows January and February's inflows."
Cunningham asks, "What's happening? We think investors like the 'new normal,' realizing that liquidity yields might remain competitive even if the Fed lowers rates by half a percentage point this year as it projected in December. This is not important 'just' because of the return, but because cash management tends to work best when yields are fairly steady, as seeking stability is the name of the game. We think, and the inflows seem to back up, that investors appreciate the potential sustainability of the 'benevolent ordinary' yields as much as they did the heady returns of 2023, which the Fed never conceived as long-lived. This could be wishful thinking, but we would not be surprised if stable value products retain their current widespread popularity for a long time."
She concludes, "And let's not forget the uncertainty pervading the Fed's future, the US economy and geopolitics, a collective negative vibe that often sends investors to safer harbors. Not that you should expect most cash managers to rest on our laurels. We at Federated Hermes are a conservative bunch. Despite the inflow this year, we will consider increasing liquidity to accommodate the expected withdrawals on tax days in March (corporate) and April (individual). The new normal does not mean one should forget the good habits that helped you get there."
A press release titled, "Northern Trust Asset Management Enters Digital Assets Market with Launch of Tokenized Money Market Share Class" tells us, "Northern Trust Asset Management, a leading global investment management firm with US$1.4 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2025, launched a tokenized share class for its NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio. Marking the firm's entry into the digital assets market, the tokenized share class represents a digital mirror record of the fund's institutional share class using blockchain technology. This offering will initially be available to clients on BNY's market-leading LiquidityDirect platform, which utilizes Goldman Sachs Digital Asset Platform." (Note: Register soon for our upcoming Bond Fund Symposium, Crane Data's ultra-short bond fund conference, which will take place March 19-20 in Boston. We hope to see you in 2 1/2 weeks!)
Paula Kar, Northern Trust Asset Management's Chief Product Officer, comments, "This launch reflects Northern Trust Asset Management's commitment to delivering secure, efficient, and innovative liquidity solutions for institutional investors. Tokenization delivers meaningful advantages, including improved settlement efficiency and enhanced visibility. Money market funds are on the leading edge of digital innovation, and we are excited to advance our product suite in this evolving space."
NTAM President Michael Hunstad adds, "As the investment landscape rapidly evolves with the use of blockchain-based solutions, Northern Trust Asset Management is committed to staying on the forefront of innovation to meet the needs of our institutional clients. By applying tokenization to institutional grade liquidity strategies, we are offering clients a modern, digital-first way to access money market investments while maintaining our high standards of governance, risk management and service."
The release explains, "The NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio provides investors with exposure to a diversified pool of short-term U.S. Treasury instruments, now with the added option of a blockchain‑enabled access model designed to support operational resilience and evolving digital market infrastructure. Northern Trust Asset Management has US$355 billion in assets under management in liquidity strategies as of December 31, 2025."
A Form N1-A Registration Statement for Northern Institutional Funds Treasury Instruments Portfolio announced the pending launch of new Digital Enabled Shares (NDEXX). It says, "The Portfolio seeks to maximize current income to the extent consistent with the preservation of capital and maintenance of liquidity by investing its net assets, under normal conditions, exclusively in U.S. Treasury securities." The fund has an 18 bps expense ratio.
Northern's filing continues, "The Portfolio seeks to achieve its objective by investing, under normal circumstances, its total assets exclusively in: Cash; and Short-term bills, notes and other obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury ('Treasury Obligations'). The Portfolio, under normal circumstances, will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in Treasury Obligations. Repurchase agreements are agreements in which the Portfolio agrees to purchase portfolio securities from financial institutions subject to the seller's agreement to repurchase them at a mutually agreed upon date and price."
It tells us, "The Portfolio operates as a 'government money market fund' under Rule 2a‑7 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. As a 'government money market fund' under Rule 2a‑7, the Portfolio (1) is permitted to use the amortized cost method of valuation to seek to maintain a stable net asset value ('NAV') of $1.00 share price, and (2) is not required to impose a liquidity fee on Portfolio redemptions that might apply to other types of money market funds. The Portfolio may invest in shares of other government money market funds."
Northern adds, "Large Shareholder Risk is the risk that a large proportion of the interests of the Portfolio may be held by a small number of investors (or a single investor) and the Portfolio may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, including funds or accounts over which the Portfolio's investment adviser or an affiliate of the investment adviser has investment discretion, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Portfolio. Such large shareholder redemptions, which may occur rapidly and unexpectedly, may cause the Portfolio to sell its securities at times it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact its liquidity and/or NAV. Such sales may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if these sales result in gains, and may also increase transaction costs."
They state, "You may purchase Digital Enabled Shares of the Portfolio through certain authorized intermediaries. An 'authorized intermediary' is a financial intermediary that has entered into an intermediary agreement with NTI for the sale of Digital Enabled Shares of the Portfolio. Although the Portfolio does not currently employ blockchain technology or invest in crypto assets, Digital Enabled Shares are expected to be purchased and held through intermediaries that intend to use blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for their customers."
The filing adds, "The Portfolio does not currently employ blockchain technology or invest in crypto assets. Intermediaries through whom shareholders purchase and redeem Digital Enabled Shares, however, intend to employ blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for its customers. A blockchain is a distributed ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. Assets are represented on the blockchain through tokens, which are digital representations of an asset and are built into the blockchain. Blockchain networks are based upon software source code that establishes and governs their respective cryptographic systems for verifying transactions."
Finally, it says, "Complex information technology and communications systems, such as blockchain networks, are subject to various threats and/or risks (including operational, information security, cyber-attacks and related risks) that could adversely affect the Portfolio, its shareholders and intermediaries through whom you purchase and redeem shares of the Portfolio. The use of blockchain technology is relatively new and the regulatory framework applicable to such use in the United States is still evolving, which might result in regulatory uncertainty or concerns that could require changes to the manner in which such technology is used, impose additional regulatory obligations, and negatively impact investors. Blockchain systems could be vulnerable to fraud. The Portfolio, its investment manager, distributor, transfer agent and their affiliates will not be responsible for any loss in connection with the use of blockchain technology by authorized intermediaries."
For more on Tokenized MMFs, see these Crane Data News stories: "BNP Paribas Debuts Tokenized MMF" (2/23/26), "Western Adds Tokenized MMF Class" (1/14/26), "Boston Fed Paper Examines Vulnerabilities of MM ETFs, Tokenized MMFs" (1/7/26), "More from Irish Funds' Tokenization Paper; Decrypt Explains Stablecoins" (12/29/25), "JPMAM Liquidity Insight: Tokenization Transforming Money Market Funds" (12/24/25), "Amundi Tokenises Shares of EUR MMF" (12/22/25), "JP Morgan Launches Tokenized MMF, My OnChain Net Yield Fund (MONY)" (12/17/25), "Bank for International Settlements Primer on Tokenized Money Funds" (12/2/25), "TD Securities Writes on Stablecoins, Tokenized Money Funds, Digital" (11/5/25), "NY Fed Blog Says Money Funds Dominate Tokenization To Date; Stability?" (9/25/25), "IMMFA on Tokenization of MMFs in Europe; Tether USDT; Fidelity Digital" (9/22/25), and "BNY's LiquidityDirect Portal Announces Plans to Tokenize Money Funds" (7/24/25).
Federated Hermes filed its latest "10-K Annual Report" with the SEC Friday, and the 103-page document contains a wealth of information on money market mutual funds, including a discussion on "EU and UK MMF Reforms". The report tells us, "Federated Hermes ... is a global leader in active investing with $902.6 billion in assets under management ... at December 31, 2025. Federated Hermes has been in the investment management business since 1955 and is one of the largest investment managers in the United States (U.S.).... Federated Hermes provides investment advisory services to 176 Federated Hermes Funds as of December 31, 2025.... Of the 176 Federated Hermes Funds, Federated Hermes' investment advisory subsidiaries managed as of December 31, 2025, 22 money market funds with $508.4 billion in AUM, 46 equity funds with $55.0 billion in AUM, 52 fixed-income funds with $46.0 billion in AUM, 51 alternative/private markets funds with $12.1 billion in AUM and five multi-asset funds with $2.9 billion in AUM." (Note: Register and make hotel reservations soon for Bond Fund Symposium, Crane Data's ultra-short bond fund conference, which will take place March 19-20 in Boston. We hope to see you next month!)
It continues, "As of December 31, 2025, Federated Hermes provided investment strategies to $278.3 billion in Separate Account assets. These Separate Accounts represent assets of government entities, high-net-worth individuals, pension and other employee benefit plans, corporations, trusts, foundations, endowments, sub-advised funds and other accounts or offerings owned or sponsored by third parties."
The filing explains, "Federated Hermes, which began selling money market fund offerings to institutions in 1974, is one of the largest U.S. managers of money market assets, with $682.6 billion in AUM at December 31, 2025. Federated Hermes has developed expertise in managing cash for institutions, which typically have strict requirements for regulatory compliance, relative safety, liquidity and competitive yields. Federated Hermes also manages retail money market offerings that are typically distributed through broker/dealers and other financial intermediary customers. At December 31, 2025, Federated Hermes managed money market assets across a wide range of categories: government ($420.5 billion); prime ($242.7 billion); and municipal (or tax-exempt) ($19.4 billion)."
Federated says, "As of December 31, 2025, managed assets in the U.S. financial intermediary market included $491.1 billion in money market assets, $70.3 billion in equity assets, $46.9 billion in fixed-income assets, $2.6 billion in multi-asset and $1.8 billion in alternative/private markets assets.... As of December 31, 2025, managed assets in the U.S. institutional market included $167.9 billion in money market assets, $49.6 billion in fixed-income assets, $7.3 billion in equity assets, $1.2 billion in alternative/private markets assets and $0.2 billion in multi-asset.... As of December 31, 2025, managed assets in the international market included $23.6 billion in money market assets, $20.3 billion in equity assets, $16.0 billion in alternative/private markets assets and $3.6 billion in fixed-income assets."
On the "U.K. and EU Money Market Fund reform, they write, "In the EU, the European Systemic Risk Board published a compliance report on the implementation of its recommendations on the reform of MMFs on February 12, 2025. It is yet to be established whether there will be substantive changes to the EU MMF Regulation following that report. On April 17, 2025, the CBI published a 'Notice of Intention on ESMA Guidelines on Stress Testing Scenarios under the Money Market Fund (MMF) Regulation' in which the CBI indicated its expectation of full compliance with ESMA's updated MMF stress-testing guidelines, which ESMA published on February 24, 2025 and applied beginning on May 4, 2025. These guidelines, updating 2024 parameters, establish common risk scenarios (credit, interest rate, liquidity, redemption) under Article 28 of the MMFR, and apply to competent authorities, MMFs and managers of MMFs."
Federated says, "On January 13, 2026, ESMA published a Final Report titled 'Guidelines on stress test scenarios under the MMF Regulation,' which includes updated guidelines and risk parameters, so that managers of MMFs have the information needed to fill in the reporting template mentioned in the MMF Regulation. In the U.K. and EU, public statements regarding progress on reforms of the regulatory regime for MMFs are expected. In the U.K., the FCA and BoE published a joint consultation setting forth their proposals for a post-Brexit MMF regime in the U.K., while HMT consulted on changes to legislation. While the U.K. regime proposed by the FCA and BoE was substantially based on the EU MMF Regulation, certain differences were proposed. As of January 31, 2026, the European Commission has not yet reopened its MMF Regulation file."
Discussing the "Risk of Federated Hermes' Money Market Offerings' Ability to Maintain a Stable Net Asset Value," they explain, "Approximately 53% of Federated Hermes' total 2025 revenue was attributable to money market assets. Money market fund investments are neither insured nor guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency. Federated Hermes' retail, government/public debt, private and collective money market funds seek to maintain a stable or constant NAV, and its non-U.S. low-volatility NAV money market funds seek to maintain a constant NAV, but will move to a four-digit NAV if such fund's NAV falls outside of a 20-basis point collar. While stable or constant NAV money market funds seek to maintain a NAV of $1.00 per share, it is also possible to lose money by investing in these funds."
The 10-K continues, "Federated Hermes also offers institutional prime or municipal (or taxexempt) money market funds which transact at a fluctuating NAV that use four-decimal-places ($1.0000), and a short-term variable NAV non-U.S. money market fund. It is also possible to lose money by investing in these funds. Federated Hermes devotes substantial resources to credit analysis, integration of proprietary insights from fundamental investment analysis (including governance, environmental or social factors and engagement interactions for many of its investment offerings) and security valuation, managing its offerings. However, the NAV of an institutional prime or municipal (or tax-exempt) money market fund, or variable NAV fund or, if the above described conditions are met, a low-volatility NAV money market fund, can fluctuate, and there is no guarantee that a retail, government/public debt, private and collective (i.e., stable or constant NAV) money market fund will be able to preserve a stable or constant NAV in the future. Market conditions, liquidity constraints, prolonged periods of low interest rates or regulatory developments and requirements that limit supply of money market securities, create illiquidity, or shift asset levels and mix can adversely affect money market fund NAVs, asset levels and performance."
It also states, "If the NAV of a Federated Hermes stable or constant NAV money market fund were to decline to less than $1.00 per share, or if the fluctuating NAV of an institutional prime or municipal (or tax-exempt) money market fund, or variable NAV money market fund or low-volatility NAV money market fund consistently or significantly declines to less than $1.0000 per share, such Federated Hermes money market fund would likely experience significant redemptions, resulting in reductions in AUM, loss of shareholder confidence and reputational harm, all of which can cause material adverse effects on Federated Hermes' Financial Condition. Under U.S. money market fund reforms, significant daily redemptions from institutional prime or municipal (tax-exempt) money market funds also can trigger discretionary or mandatory redemption fees, potentially leading to further AUM reductions, loss of confidence, and material adverse effects on Federated Hermes' Financial Condition."
Finally, the filing adds, "Many of Federated Hermes' offerings are designed for banks, insurance companies and other institutional investors, which hold a large portion of its assets, particularly in money market, fixed-income and alternative/private market strategies. Changes in the structure or attractiveness of institutional investment offerings, due to regulatory developments, market conditions, competing offerings (such as FDIC-insured deposit products or non-transparent, actively managed ETFs) or other factors, can limit Federated Hermes' ability to retain or grow market share and materially adversely affect profitability and Federated Hermes' Financial Condition. Certain offerings can also be impact-oriented or other governance, environmental or social offerings and unsuitable for certain fiduciary customers in the U.S. without consent, or disfavored for political or other reasons, which can constrain asset growth and adversely affect, potentially in a material way, future profitability and Federated Hermes' Financial Condition."
