News Archives: July, 2026
After almost breaking the $8.0 trillion barrier four weeks prior, the Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets falling $6.8 billion to $7.861 trillion. Assets fell $22.6 billion the previous week and decreased $59.7 billion the week before this. But MMF assets are still up by $788 billion, or 11.0%, over the past 52 weeks (through 7/29/26), with Institutional MMFs up $614 billion, or 14.7% and Retail MMFs up $164 billion, or 5.6%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are up by $121 billion, or 1.6%, with Institutional MMFs up $120 billion, or 2.6% and Retail MMFs up $0.2 billion, or 0.0%.
ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $6.82 billion to $7.85 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, July 29, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, government funds decreased by $5.90 billion and prime funds decreased by $2.46 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds increased by $1.55 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $0.7 billion and Retail MMFs decreasing $6.1 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.473 trillion (82.4% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.231 trillion (15.7%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $150.1 billion (1.9%).
It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds decreased by $6.11 billion to $3.08 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $4.85 billion to $1.96 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $2.29 billion to $984.27 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $1.03 billion to $137.40 billion." Retail assets account for 39.2% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.6% of all Retail MMFs.
They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $711 million to $4.78 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $1.06 billion to $4.52 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $171 million to $246.85 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets increased by $516 million to $12.74 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 60.8% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.6% of all institutional MMF totals.
According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have decreased by $60.0 billion to $8.290 trillion month-to-date in July (as of 7/29), assets reached an all-time high of $8.404 trillion on July 6. Assets increased $58.6 billion in June, $208.6 billion in May, decreased by $108.8 billion in April, $49.3 billion in March, increased $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 $63.7 billion last July. Note that `ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're almost $400 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
ICI also published its monthly "Trends in Mutual Fund Investing - June 2026" and "Month-End Portfolio Holdings of Taxable Money Funds" on Thursday. The latest "Trends" shows money fund totals increasing $75.9 billion, or 1.0%, in June to $7.900 trillion. MMFs increased by $876.6 billion, or 12.5%, over the past 12 months (through 6/30/26). Money funds' June asset increase follows an increase of $157.2 billion in May, a decrease of $100.5 billion in April and $16.9 billion in March, and an increase of $59.9 billion in February. Bond fund assets increased $39.9 billion to $5.727 trillion, and bond ETF assets increased $51.8 billion to $2.553 trillion in June 2026.
The monthly release states, "The combined assets of the nation's mutual funds increased by $66.71 billion, or 0.2 percent, to $33.22 trillion in June, according to the Investment Company Institute’s official survey of the mutual fund industry. In the survey, mutual fund companies report actual assets, sales, and redemptions to ICI.... Bond funds had an inflow of $22.81 billion in June, compared with an inflow of $42.79 billion in May.... Money market funds had an inflow of $62.55 billion in June, compared with an inflow of $143.66 billion in May. In June funds offered primarily to institutions had an inflow of $76.18 billion and funds offered primarily to individuals had an outflow of $13.63 billion."
The Institute's latest statistics show that Taxable MMFs and Tax Exempt MMFs were both higher from last month. Taxable MMFs increased by $73.5 billion in June to $7.752 trillion. Tax-Exempt MMFs increased $2.3 billion to $148.8 billion. Taxable MMF assets increased year-over-year by $866.0 billion (12.6%), and Tax-Exempt funds rose by $10.6 billion over the past year (7.7%). Bond fund assets increased by $39.9 billion (after increasing by $66.9 billion in May) to $5.727 trillion; they've increased by $505.0 billion (9.7%) over the past year.
Money funds represent 23.8% of all mutual fund assets (up 0.2% from the previous month), while bond funds account for 17.2%, according to ICI. The total number of money market funds was 268, up 1 from the prior month and up from 260 a year ago. Taxable money funds numbered 229 funds, and tax-exempt money funds numbered 39 funds.
ICI's "Portfolio Holdings" confirms a drop in Treasuries and an increase in Repo last month. Treasury holdings remain the largest composition segment. In June, they decreased $79.3 billion, or -2.5%, to $3.062 trillion, or 39.5% of holdings. Treasury securities have increased by $580.4 billion, or 23.4%, over the past 12 months. (See our July 13 News, "July MF Portfolio Holdings: Assets Flat; Repo Jumps, Treasuries Plunge.")
Repurchase Agreements, the second largest composition segment, increased $69.7 billion, or 2.5%, to $2.890 trillion, or 37.3% of holdings. Repo holdings have decreased $8.9 billion, or -0.3%, over the past year. U.S. Government Agency securities were the third largest segment; they increased $15.5 billion, or 1.4%, to $1.107 trillion, or 14.3% of holdings. Agency holdings have increased by $194.8 billion, or 21.4%, over the past 12 months.
Certificates of Deposit (CDs) were in fourth place, down $3.1 billion, or -1.0%, to $294.8 billion (3.8% of assets). CDs decreased $1.7 billion, or -0.6%, over one year. Commercial Paper holdings were in fifth place; CP holdings increased by $10.4 billion, or 3.7%, to $290.8 billion (3.8% of assets). CP held by money funds fell by $1.7 billion, or -0.6%, over 12 months. Other holdings decreased to $24.5 billion (0.3% of assets), while Notes (including Corporate and Bank) increased to $47.3 billion (0.6% of assets).
The Number of Accounts Outstanding in ICI's series for taxable money funds increased to 89.695 million, while the Number of Funds was up 1 to 229. Over the past 12 months, the number of accounts rose by 10.132 million and the number of funds increased by 8. The Average Maturity of Portfolios was 40 days, down 3 days from May. Over the past 12 months, WAMs of Taxable money funds are up 4 days.
A press release, "BNY Launches Global Digital Transfer Agency Capabilities, Extending Leadership in Fund Servicing to Digital Market," tells us, "BNY ... announced the launch of its new Digital Transfer Agency (TA) capabilities, meeting an expanded set of client needs by extending the firm's leading TA services to support digitally native funds. BNY Digital TA modernizes BNY's fund servicing capabilities to support both digital and traditional asset funds in an end-to-end lifecycle across multiple jurisdictions and blockchains, enabling a unified client servicing experience." (Note: Crane Data's Peter Crane will be speaking Thursday afternoon at 3pm on an AFP Webinar titled, "2026 Survey Benchmarks: Real-Time Liquidity, and Stablecoins in Treasury." He'll be joined by AFP's Tom Hunt, Invesco's Laurie Brignac and Flix North America's Mark Kirsch.)
Emily Portney, Global Head of Asset Servicing at BNY, comments, "With this new capability, BNY is helping power the future of financial markets through digital market infrastructure with a global, scalable platform that integrates tokenization, distribution, and custody. We are excited to support clients as they expand into new asset classes, enabling true on-chain mobility of real-world assets, with legal representation of the fund's books and records on a public blockchain."
The release explains, "When tokenized funds are issued on a blockchain from the start, the legal title and economic value of the funds exist on-chain rather than remain in the mirror-token or 'digital twin' models that have prevailed to date. For fund providers, on-chain books and records underpin a unified 'source of truth' across fund activity occurring on the blockchain. Full on-chain asset and peer-to-peer mobility will be supported through both fiat and stablecoin subscriptions and redemptions, enabled by new mint/burn capabilities, all within the BNY ecosystem."
BNY's Chief Product and Innovation Officer Carolyn Weinberg says, "Digital Transfer Agency capabilities represent the next evolution of fund servicing, combining the same operational rigor, transparency and trust of traditional services paired with the future of innovation in digital markets. As fund managers increasingly bring digital investment products to market, we're excited to bring together the resilient framework they rely on with digital markets interoperability that makes asset servicing and mobility easier."
BNY's statement continues, "Digital TA is part of BNY's integrated digital assets offering, which spans custody, stablecoin enablement, tokenized deposits and infrastructure supporting the institutional adoption of digital assets. Those capabilities are directly connected to the firm's underlying TA recordkeeping infrastructure, creating a trusted source of ownership and transaction data across both traditional and digital environments."
BNY Investments' Stephanie Pierce, adds, "We are pleased to advance BNY's ongoing efforts to bring together distinct capabilities into integrated, innovative solutions that address evolving client needs. Digital TA will further strengthen our ability to combine investment and servicing expertise to deliver digital asset solutions that simplify cash and liquidity management."
Finally, the release states, "The service will initially launch with select clients in the U.S. and U.K., with plans for expansion. BNY will offer a new digitally-native money market fund from BNY Investments Dreyfus with its BLIQUID tokens representing fund shares. Baillie Gifford, which co-designed its offering with BNY as part of a long-term strategic relationship, has already brought it to market, launching the Baillie Gifford Enhanced Yield Fund (BAGEY), the first publicly available, fully native U.K.-regulated tokenized fund. BlackRock is also expected to use these capabilities to launch BSTBL, a new tokenized share class of its money market fund designed to meet stablecoin reserve requirements."
In other news, website AdvisorHub posted an article titled, "Cash Sweep Suits Raise Legal Costs for Raymond James, Others." It states, "Investors' cash sweep litigation continues to weigh on wealth firms' costs and attention, even though the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Trump administration has concluded its pending probes without meting out punitive fines. Raymond James Financial [last] Thursday reported that its 'professional fees' rose by $27 million, or 75% sequentially, to $63 million. The 'vast majority' of that increase was related to legal costs tied to defending against cash sweep claims, according to Chief Executive Officer Paul Shoukry." (See our July 27 News, "Raymond James, Ameriprise Q2 Earnings Calls Thin on AI, Cash, Sweeps.")
They write, "The increases would continue into future quarters although not at the same rate as the past three months, according to Raymond James Chief Financial officer Butch Oolog. The executives declined to specify the total spent on cash sweep litigation in the quarter. 'We believe we have strong defenses to the claims asserted and we are vigorously defending the action,' Oorlog said on the company's earnings call. 'However, such defense is triggering an increase in our cost.' Shoukry noted that Raymond James is not the only wealth management company facing such costs and more than a dozen others are 'dealing with the same type of litigation.'"
The piece continues, "Starting in 2024, plaintiff lawyers began filing proposed class actions against wealth management firms, including JPMorgan Chase, UBS Wealth Management USA, Ameriprise Financial, LPL Financial, Merrill Lynch parent Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. The lawsuits all revolve around the same allegations that firms profited by raking in most of the interest from uninvested cash in advisory accounts while paying clients paltry rates. Several firms boosted their rates on sweep programs in response."
It says, "Under the Biden administration, the federal government was also investigating the companies related to their cash sweep rates. In January 2025, before Trump's inauguration, Merrill and Wells agreed to pay $60 million combined for failing to pay advisory customers a fair rate on uninvested cash in their advisory accounts. By May 2025, after Trump took office, some of those companies, including Morgan Stanley and LPL, disclosed that the SEC had ended the probes without any enforcement action."
AdvisorHub comments, "Since then, courts presiding over the private plaintiffs' lawsuits 'began cutting the marquee claims out' of those cases, according to a blog posted by Rain Intelligence, a legal consulting firm. 'The plaintiffs' bar, instead of retreating, rebuilt the theory around a narrower and more durable question: not whether the rate was too low, but whether the firm owed the client a duty in the first place,' the blog writers said."
Finally, they add, "The consultants reported that one bank had one case dismissed but courts denied Merrill and Ameriprise's motions to dismiss, and let claims against JPMorgan survive. Meanwhile, other private plaintiffs are taking the cue from the court rulings and filing additional complaints, including against Janney Montgomery Scott and Betterment, according to the blog post. About 20 cases are pending in federal courts, the Rain Intelligence consultants reported."
For more on brokerage sweep lawsuits, see these Crane Data News stories: "IN: SEC Drops LPL Sweeps Action" (2/25/26), "Reuters on JPMorgan Sweeps Lawsuit" (2/19/26), "Judge Dismisses US Bancorp Sweep Suit" (2/4/26), "FINRA Fines APFS on Sweeps" (1/6/26), "Schwab Sweeps Sued" (8/18/25), "Barron's: SEC Done w/MS Sweeps" (5/21/25), "ignites on Brokerage Sweep Suits" (4/21/25), "Inv News on Pershing Cash Grab; Osaic Suit" (2/20/25), "ignites on Brokerage Sweep Suits" (4/21/25), "WSJ: SEC, Brokerage Sweeps Settle" (1/21/25), "Schwab Latest Firm Sued Over Sweeps" (12/12/24), "Wells Quiet on Sweeps on Q3 Call" (10/18/24), "Barron's Writes on Brokerage Sweep Woes" (9/23/24), "Bloomberg Law on Brokerage Sweep Suits" (9/19/24), "Sept. MFI: Sticking with Prime Inst; MMFs Hit Record; Sweeps Scrutiny" (9/9/24), "Barron's: JPMorgan Sued on Sweeps" (8/29/24), "More on SEC Sweeps Scrutiny; Inv News on Sweeps, UBS's Earnings Call" (8/20/24), "Law Firm Says Bolster Disclosures, Rates on Sweeps" (8/13/24), "Barron's: BofA Cites Risk from Sweeps" (8/8/24), "Brokerage Sweeps Lawsuits" (8/5/24), "AdvisorHub on Wells Sweep Suit" (8/2/24) and "IN: Ameriprise Sued Over Sweeps" (7/31/24).
Law firm Dechert published an article titled "CFTC Helps Seeded Funds and Qualifies More Money Market Funds as Margin." They tell us, "Effective August 17, 2026, the CFTC adopted a Final Rule amending its margin requirements for uncleared swaps applicable to swap dealers and major swap participants that are not subject to prudential regulator margin rules. The Final Rule implements three major changes: A three-year initial margin exception for certain 'seeded funds' that will treat such funds as having no margin affiliates for purposes of calculating initial margin thresholds. Elimination of the 'asset transfer restriction' that had previously disqualified securities issued by most otherwise eligible money market funds ('MMFs') and similar funds that may engage in repurchase and similar transactions from serving as eligible initial margin ('IM') and variation margin ('VM') collateral. [And] Adoption of specific tiered haircuts for eligible MMF and similar fund shares used as initial margin or variation margin."
The piece explains, "The CFTC regulations governing uncleared swaps (the 'CFTC Margin Rules') require covered swap entities ('CSEs') (i.e., swap dealers and major swap participants not subject to prudential regulator margin rules) to exchange collateral as IM and VM with certain counterparties for uncleared swaps. Following the initial adoption of the CFTC Margin Rules in 2016, various challenges were identified and considered by market participants, including the disparate treatment among certain categories of seeded funds subjecting many seeded funds to initial margin obligations, the broad ineligibility of shares of MMFs and similar funds that may engage in repurchase and certain similar transactions to be posted as IM or VM for uncleared swaps, and a lack of a specific haircut schedule for shares of MMFs and similar funds posted as IM or VM."
Dechert writes, "In August 2023, the CFTC proposed to amend CFTC Regulation 23.151 and 23.156 to exempt CSEs from the requirement to exchange IM with certain seeded funds, to eliminate the asset transfer restriction, and to add a footnote to the haircut schedule set forth in CFTC Regulation 23.156 that specifically addressed the haircut schedule for MMFs and similar funds (the 'Proposal')."
They comment, "On July 13, 2026, the CFTC adopted a final rule (the 'Final Rule') amending the CFTC Margin Rules effective August 17, 2026 as follows: Eligible Collateral Amendment. The Eligible Collateral Amendment eliminates the asset transfer restriction that had previously disqualified shares of otherwise eligible MMFs or other similar funds from serving as IM and VM. Haircut Schedule Amendment. The Haircut Schedule Amendment specifies specific tiered haircuts for shares of MMFs and similar funds used as IM or VM."
Dechert's update states, "As described further below, the Final Rule amends only the CFTC Margin Rules. The prudential regulators (i.e., the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Farm Credit Administration, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency) have not yet taken equivalent action with respect to their uncleared swap margin rules."
It says, "Under the CFTC Margin Rules as initially adopted, otherwise eligible MMF and other similar funds' shares were eligible to serve as IM or VM for certain uncleared swaps transactions only if the fund's assets may not be transferred through securities lending, securities borrowing, repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, or similar arrangements. In practice, most large institutional MMFs (particularly government MMFs that invest in U.S. Treasury securities and are more likely than other MMFs to meet the other eligibility requirements) engage in repurchase transactions as cash lenders and their shares therefore could not qualify as eligible collateral under the prior CFTC Margin Rules despite being recognized as highly liquid, low-risk instruments."
Dechert writes, "These conditions have generally limited the scope of eligible fund shares to shares of mutual funds and ETFs that invest only in Treasury securities and that are restricted from engaging in any repurchase or similar agreements. Based on data as of mid-2023, the asset transfer restriction limited the scope of funds whose shares were eligible to serve as IM or VM to approximately 21 MMFs (constituting approximately $649 billion in combined net assets)."
They add, "The Final Rule eliminates the asset transfer restriction in its entirety, allowing otherwise eligible securities to serve as IM for uncleared swaps between a CSE and a covered counterparty or as VM for uncleared swaps between a CSE and a financial end user, regardless of whether the fund engages in repurchase or similar agreements. The Final Rule imposes no new conditions limiting the eligibility of MMF shares to serve as IM or VM."
Finally, the article says, "The Final Rule adopts tiered fixed percentage haircuts based on (1) the fund's maximum value-weighted average time to maturity based on the fund's stated investment restrictions not exceeding a specific time period; or (2) the fund limiting its investments to securities with a specific remaining maturity not exceeding a specific time period. The haircuts are: 0.5% for under one year, 2% for one to five years, and 4% for greater than five years. The CFTC stated in adopting the Final Rule that 'shares of MMFs that meet the IM eligibility requirements ... will be subject to a 0.5 percent haircut.' This tiered approach mirrors the haircuts applicable to direct holdings of the same underlying sovereign securities and reduces the operational burden on market participants. A CSE may rely on a fund's prospectus or other offering documents to determine the applicable limits on value-weighted average time to maturity or remaining maturities and corresponding haircut tier applicable to shares of the fund."
In other news, Federated Hermes recently posted an insight titled, "Navigating the yield curve in today's market," in which Deborah Cunningham and Bradley Payne sit talk about the current market environment. Payne says, "You've written about the possibility of less forward guidance from the Fed. How does that change the way investors should think about positioning when the path of policy becomes less predictable? And what value do liquidity investments provide in this type of environment?"
Cunningham responds, "Well, I certainly think it adds to the volatility that investors see in the marketplace. So with less forward guidance, there has to be sort of a mosaic approach where ultimately you're taking what is less information and trying to predict based on maybe innuendos as opposed to actual statements and guidance in the context of certain instances and examples as opposed to dots and actual numbers. Now, when there's volatility, there's opportunity. So, you know, if you have a level at which, you know, above that level, you'll buy it and below which you won't, that's a good strategy for that type of a marketplace."
She continues, "And I think that benefits investors in the context of them being able to capture where the yield curve is on a more consistent basis in the products without having to assume that same amount of volatility that the actual yield curve itself is providing. So as Fed expectations change with the new leadership change, the market has adjusted its expectations going out the yield curve for what the direction of interest rates is and what the volatility associated with those rates are. What, given where we are right now in the current environment, does this mean for your duration discussions and how you're positioning the products that are beyond the money market side of the equation?"
Payne replies, "So, similar to the liquidity side, in the short-duration fixed-income space, we're also utilizing the longer end of our range that we're given with the re-steepening of the front end of the yield curve. So, we are seeing more attractive levels in the two-year Treasury rates now that there are implied Fed hikes priced into those. So, we're taking opportunities maybe to extend to the more higher edge of our short duration ranges. In addition to that, on the credit side, given that a lot of our alpha is generated from sector positioning and credit allocations, with spreads maintaining resiliency this year, we are seeing opportunities within corporate yields, within ABS spreads, also within certain out-of-index spaces like trade finance and bank loans are offering value too for investors. There are pockets of opportunity both on the credit space and as well as extending out in duration and short-term fixed income."
Late last month, Crane Data hosted its big Money Fund Symposium conference in Jersey City, where over 740 money market professionals discussed rates, tokenization, record asset levels and a number of other hot topics in cash. Below, we quote from the session, "Money Market & Ultra-Short ETFs," which featured Bob Cousart of BlackRock, Jon-Luc Dupuy of K&L Gates and Jerome Schneider of PIMCO. Cousart starts off, stating, "So, unlike short-duration ETFs, money market ETFs adhere to the strict regulatory guidelines of 2a-7, capital preservation and liquidity. So having that little '2a-7' stamp, that does mean something for certain investors who want to have that sense of safety.... Money market ETFs really round out that broad spectrum of fixed income ETFs, serving as a kind of a bookend for the whole broad spectrum." (Note: This article is reprinted from the July issue of Bond Fund Intelligence, which was published on July 15. Contact us at info@cranedata.com to request the full issue or to subscribe.)
Asked about ultra-short ETFs, Schneider responds, "Pimco's approach to the ETF complex has been one which has been driven by a view of active management from the very beginning.... We recognize also the fact that there are opportunities, and we launched about 3 1/2 years ago, a T-bill ETF, called BILZ.... You can actually manage T-Bill portfolios that effectively have money market-fund-like qualities. While we don't necessarily label it as money market fund ETF, it's done a [nice job] of engaging advisors and models.... But that active management theme has been something that Pimco has really been consistent with throughout its evolution of ETFs over the years. More recently, [we've had] more wholesome and full-throated type of approaches to our income-based strategies. What I think is interesting is that this is an evolutionary discussion, and it's really philosophical."
He comments, "Our job is to continually evolve and evaluate potential, both in terms of the opportunity sets in the market, but also in the problems that need to be resolved.... The evolution that we found coming out of the financial crisis was finding high-quality solutions that provided income to clients while still having a defensive mentality of capital preservation.... It's great that that universe has expanded to a lot of different competitors ... and we've seen tremendous growth of 14 to 16% annualized over the past 2.2 years in those arenas. [T]he discussions that we collectively have been having with investors about how to think about capital preservation have been resonating for that period of time. And that's a great thing that the ultra-short universe has been able to do. So, from that point of view, the ETF landscape, the ultra-short landscape, and the step out of money market funds will continue to evolve, because it has the ability to differentiate itself in terms of structural opportunities for those investors."
Schneider says, "As we get into this environment of rates that are perhaps sticky, maybe going lower, maybe going higher, ... inflationary pressures are effectively turning what were relatively attractive nominal cash yields into negative real returns pretty quickly here.... That's really been a common resonating theme, which has driven ... more flows into the ultra-short universe over the past 12 months."
Discussing money market ETFs, Cousart says, "It's its own sort of animal. You know, the idea here is not to cannibalize any of the existing short duration or ultra-short ETFs that we have out there. One of our couple biggest ones, ICSH, continues to do well. We very much look at the money market ETFs as a separate entity.... Over time, we expect or hope to see more of the AUM come into the money market ETFs. But it's a separate investor base from the ultra-shorts.... We do view them separately, and there's futures for both."
Asked about restrictions on and definitions of 'ultra-short,' Schneider responds, "The way we think about it, and the way investors and advisors think about it, is recognizing that while you have permissions within a landscape, it doesn't mean that you're running full throttle on those permissions the entire time. Your choice of a manager is one who uses prudence and practicality combined with resources. As opposed to just simply running the full gamut of risk at all points in time. And there's a whole variety of different approaches in this.... That's why you have strategies which tend to go down the credit spectrum or tend to add a lot of duration or do a lot of different things that are more liquid and less transparent. The way we think about it functionally is that when you take those steps, recognize that there are influences which are obvious, Fed policy, liquidity within the market, seasonality. But there's also things which are less transparent: credit research, which is more than just underwriting commercial cases; understanding global market liquidity as opposed to just what goes on here in the United States; understanding that there is a variety of flows that are influenced by retail flows, but also institutional flows which might coagulate and create different opportunities at different points in time."
Schneider tells us, "So, these are real discussions to be had within the landscape. It creates a sort of tiered, bifurcated approach in this. Now, the ETF landscape has nuances, and when you talk about regulatory reasons, the ultra-short landscape typically runs between zero and one-year duration.... No one's getting maybe a lot of money off of a one-year duration bet at this point in time. At the same time, the way we would think about it at PIMCO is you shouldn’t be either, and there's structural opportunities that don't necessarily predicate us betting on whether the Fed's going to hike at the next meeting or cut later in '27. The reality is that there's a lot of people who still do that, and we would shy away from that. Not because we don't have a view at PIMCO of what the outlook is going to be -- we definitely do, which is effectively we're going to be on hold for [a long time here], but followed by cuts."
Schneider states, "But the point is that the different opportunity sets allow us to evolve the portfolio. So, as an example, MINT, in our ultra-short landscape, or LDUR, low-duration portfolio in the short-term landscape, is a one-to-three-year benchmark. The benchmarks are there to provide duration guidance. The opportunity sets are to evolve what types of assets you can create to diversify portfolios, if that's a consistent thing. So, the ability to do financial and non-financial commercial paper, asset-backed securities, corporate bonds, SSAs, whatever the landscape is.... What we think is quality, but also the ability to earn proper premiums, liquidity premiums."
He adds, "And we're going to rotate the portfolios in real time to do that. So, long story short, is there's investors looking for answers to lower their volatility profile because their other incumbent assets are increasing in volatility profile, and that puts you in more of an income generation approach. Now whether that means you go to cash and cash like in terms of like ultra-short or short-term strategies, perhaps. But it also just means you might find yourself in the fixed income universe ... especially coming from an underweight of fixed income for decades and frankly a whole universe of investors who don't even know what fixed income is for the most part. So that puts Bob and I in a unique position of trying to educate people over the next decade or so."
Finally, Schneider adds, "At the same time, to answer your question [about flows being inside-out or outside-in], I think we're at a cross current. One, there's a functional aspect of people who are ultimately faced with thinking that cash yields, which they've gotten so accustomed to at 4-5%, could be going away in the next year or two. It could be 2%. That might not seem attractive in a 3% inflation environment. That's one aspect. And the other aspect is rates may go higher.... They might go higher by 25 bps, 50 bps, but you're still going to be able to outperform cash in many ways in this regard. And so, what we'd ultimately say at PIMCO is you can effectively get equity-like returns with fixed income-like assets. So, earning 5-7% [with a] very low volatility profile should be more attractive now than it's been in a generation. So, I look at the beautiful prairies and the great plains of opportunity and say, 'it's great.' There's a lot of winners, but there's also going to be losers. That uncertainty is making investors and advisors ask a lot more questions about potential outcomes than they have for a long time."
Last quarter, brokerage earnings calls were filled with questions and comments on the impact of AI cash optimization tools, but the latest quarter had virtually nothing on the topic. Both Raymond James and Ameriprise Financial released earnings and hosted calls last week, and the calls were unusually thin on cash and sweep comments. Raymond James CEO Paul Shoukry says, "Clients' domestic cash sweep and Enhanced Savings Program balances ended the quarter at $58.8 billion, up 2% from the preceding quarter and 7% over the prior year level, representing 3.4% of domestic PCG client assets at quarter end. Cash sweep balances grew 4% year-over-year and reflect the impact of organic and recruited growth over the period. We continue to diversify funding during the quarter, with strong growth in Enhanced Savings Program balances up $2.4 billion, or 19%, over the prior quarter level. This on-balance sheet increase in bank deposits enabled us to shift a portion of our cash sweep program balances from our banks to third-party banks." (See the RJ earnings call transcript here.)
He explains, "This dynamic highlights the strength of our deposit gathering capabilities and the flexibility inherent in our funding model to move cash sweep balances on or off balance sheet, enabling us to better serve client needs.... Combined net interest income and RJBDP fees from third-party banks were $658 million, up $8 million, or 1% from the prior quarter. Fee revenues earned on RJBDP balances with third-party banks increased $5 million as a result of both an increase in the yield of five basis points to 2.75%, as well as an increase in average balances swept to third-party banks in the quarter. Bank segment net interest income was flat sequentially as incremental interest from loan growth was offset by higher interest expense, primarily from the growth in the Enhanced Savings Program balances that I previously discussed."
Shoukry comments, "Professional fees during the quarter reflect elevated legal expenses, with the vast majority being defense costs incurred during the quarter associated with the previously disclosed putative class action lawsuit related to our cash sweep programs. We believe we have strong defenses to the claims asserted, and we are vigorously defending the action. However, such defense is triggering an increase in our costs."
In response to a question, CFO Butch Oorlog states, "Just a couple of things to point out. The yield on our bank segment interest earning assets was flat. We maintained the same yield on interest earning assets over the quarter. As we think about the impact on our NIM, the nature of the deposits and how much the constitution of our deposits, whether on balance sheet or off balance sheet, has a direct impact on our NIM. In this quarter as an example, we grew the ESP deposits. Those are on balance sheet, enabling us to use other capacity in the suite program off with third-party banks. We get fee revenues from that. From time to time, the impact on our NIM can be negative as we have higher cost deposits on balance sheet."
He adds, "Overall, we manage to the aggregate of the BDP fee revenues and the NII in total in aggregate. We have to look at them in aggregate. We think over the long run, we continue to see in a steady rate environment. We've demonstrated basically consistent NIM performance. I would just say that when you think about our NIM, you really have to keep in mind that dynamic between our deposits that are on balance sheet and off balance sheet."
Shoukry comments, "The goal really is to grow interest earnings and BDP fees over time. We're confident that we'll be able to do that. As Butch points out, the geography of the cash will impact the NIM versus the third-party fees. The most critical thing is that we have various funding sources both at the bank and at the wealth business, etc., that we test from time to time. We want to see how successful those sources can be. This quarter, we were able to be very successful in raising ESP balances, which allowed us to put more off balance sheet with third-party banks. It's working. The apparatus and the diversified funding sources is working."
In response to a question on rates, he responds, "Higher interest rates, [it's] amazing that we're talking about that because I think a year ago we were talking about maybe five or six cuts.... The world changes quickly as we are consistently reminded. If rates do increase, that would be a nice tailwind for our business, all else being equal. There's always puts and takes in our various businesses. As far as the floating rate asset that we have on the balance sheet ... we have a relatively floating rate balance sheet. We've always tried to keep it that way, so we're not effectively taking interest rate risk. Some firms who did that saw the downside of that in 2023. All else being equal, when rates go down, we see a negative impact on those balances, and when rates go up, we see a pretty nice benefit to those balances."
During the Ameriprise Q2 earnings call, CEO Jim Cracchiolo tells us, "We've seen a good response to our recent bank and certificate promotions. We know from our early results that practices using our banking solutions manage nearly 10% more assets."
CFO Walter Berman explains, "I will note that our bank revenues increased in the mid-single-digit percentage range from business growth, including the expansion of lending products, while revenues from cash sweep and certificates declined, particularly as clients repositioned from term products into other offerings on our platform."
Asked about the amount of the company's earnings that come from sweep cash compared to competitors (that they're much lower), Berman answers, "Well, certainly, you're in the right ballpark. I would say there is more on the core." Cracchiolo adds, "Yeah, it's definitely more than half in the core (vs. sweep).... It's more like 70%.... Let's just say it's more in the core." Cracchiolo says, "It's somewhere in between what you just said."
Finally, Berman responds, "It's not only that, it's also the stability where the bank is to maintain that generation of earnings. Obviously, we have a bank, so we don't have to swap, and we keep the premium, and certainly the bank is growing in its net interest income. Yes, I think we will look at doing that because there's certainly a big differential between the concentration we have and the concentration that exists in peers. I'll leave it at that."
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published its latest monthly "Money Market Fund Statistics" summary, which shows that total money fund assets increased by $54.1 billion in June 2026 to a record $8.442 trillion, after increasing to $8.388 trillion the month prior. The SEC shows Prime MMFs increased $21.5 billion in June to $1.394 trillion, Govt & Treasury funds increased $31.1 billion to $6.894 trillion and Tax Exempt funds increased $1.4 billion to $154.2 billion. Taxable and Tax Exempt MMF yields were higher in June. The SEC's Division of Investment Management summarizes monthly Form N-MFP data and includes asset totals and averages for yields, liquidity levels, WAMs, WALs, holdings, and other money market fund trends. We review their latest numbers below. (Our MFI XLS monthly shows money fund assets increasing $53.8 billion in June 2026 to $8.355 trillion. In July month-to-date through 7/22, total money fund assets have decreased by $59.9 billion to $8.290 trillion, according to Crane Data's separate, and slightly smaller, MFI Daily series.) (Note: Thanks to those who attended our Money Fund Symposium last month in Jersey City! Attendees and Crane Data Subscribers may access the MFS Conference Materials here.)
June's asset increase follows an increase of $200.7 billion in May, a decrease of $102.3 billion in April, a decrease of $50.7 billion in March, an increase of $123.7 billion in February, $36.6 billion in January, $125.0 billion in December, $125.1 billion in November, $153.2 billion in October, $106.0 billion in September, $138.0 billion in August, $60.2 billion in July and $4.3 billion last June. Over the 12 months through 6/30/26, total MMF assets have increased by $969.7 billion, or 13.0%, according to the SEC's series.
The SEC's stats show that of the $8.442 trillion in assets, $1.394 trillion was in Prime funds, up $21.5 billion in June. Prime assets were up $16.1 billion in May, down $26.2 billion in April, down $0.5 billion in March, up $18.2 billion in February, $22.4 billion in January, $1.2 billion in December, $3.1 billion in November, $9.1 billion in October, $6.2 billion in September, $20.2 billion in August, $22.7 billion in July and $9.8 billion last June. Prime funds represented 16.5% of total assets at the end of June. They've increased by $113.9 billion, or 8.9%, over the past 12 months. (Note that the SEC's series includes a number of internal money funds not tracked by ICI, though Crane Data includes most of these assets in its collections.)
Government & Treasury funds totaled $6.894 trillion, or 81.7% of assets. They increased $31.1 billion in June, increased $183.5 billion in May, decreased $75.9 billion in April, decreased $52.0 billion in March, increased $104.5 billion in February, increased $23.1 billion in January, increased $117.3 billion in December, increased $115.4 billion in November, increased $142.1 billion in October, increased $97.8 billion in September, increased $118.1 billion in August, increased $39.0 billion in July and decreased $0.7 billion last June. Govt & Treasury MMFs are up $844.1 billion over 12 months, or 14.0%. Tax Exempt Funds increased $1.4 billion to $154.2 billion, or 1.8% of all assets. The number of money funds was 293 in June, up 3 from the previous month and up 16 funds from a year earlier.
Yields for Taxable and Tax Exempt MMFs were higher in June. The Weighted Average Gross 7-Day Yield for Prime Institutional Funds on June 30 was 3.82%, up 3 bps from the prior month. The Weighted Average Gross 7-Day Yield for Prime Retail MMFs was 3.82%, up 2 bps from the previous month. Gross yields were 3.70% for Government Funds, up 2 bps from last month. Gross yields for Treasury Funds were up 2 bps at 3.71%. Gross Yields for Tax Exempt Institutional MMFs were up 101 basis points to 2.81% in June. Gross Yields for Tax Exempt Retail funds were up 77 bps to 2.71%.
The Weighted Average 7-Day Net Yield for Prime Institutional MMFs was 3.73%, up 4 bps from the previous month and down 63 bps from 6/30/25. The Average Net Yield for Prime Retail Funds was 3.56%, up 3 bps from the previous month and down 66 bps since 6/30/25. Net yields were 3.49% for Government Funds, up 2 bps from last month. Net yields for Treasury Funds were up 3 bps from the previous month at 3.51%. Net Yields for Tax Exempt Institutional MMFs were up 100 bps from May to 2.69%. Net Yields for Tax Exempt Retail funds were up 76 bps at 2.48% in June. (Note: These averages are asset-weighted.)
WALs and WAMs were lower for Taxable MMFs and mixed for Tax Exempt MMFs in June. The average Weighted Average Life, or WAL, was 58.5 days (down 5.6 days) for Prime Institutional funds, and 54.8 days for Prime Retail funds (down 2.0 days). Government fund WALs averaged 92.2 days (down 0.9 days) while Treasury fund WALs averaged 91.8 days (down 2.9 days). Tax Exempt Institutional fund WALs were 4.8 days (down 0.6 days), and Tax Exempt Retail MMF WALs averaged 31.4 days (up 2.9 days).
The Weighted Average Maturity, or WAM, was 35.3 days (down 4.6 days from the previous month) for Prime Institutional funds, 38.1 days (down 1.9 days from the previous month) for Prime Retail funds, 36.7 days (down 4.6 days from previous month) for Government funds, and 42.2 days (down 3.7 days from previous month) for Treasury funds. Tax Exempt Inst WAMs were down 0.4 days at 4.8 days, while Tax Exempt Retail WAMs were up 2.5 days from previous month at 30.6 days.
Total Daily Liquid Assets for Prime Institutional funds were 52.5% in June (up 1.4% from the previous month), and DLA for Prime Retail funds was 47.4% (down 0.5% from previous month) as a percent of total assets. The average DLA was 61.0% for Govt MMFs and 94.6% for Treasury MMFs. Total Weekly Liquid Assets was 68.1% (up 1.3% from the previous month) for Prime Institutional MMFs, and 62.1% (down 1.3% from the previous month) for Prime Retail funds. Average WLA was 76.6% for Govt MMFs and 99.3% for Treasury MMFs.
Note that the SEC made a number of changes to their monthly release in April 2025, so we're no longer publishing a number of tables. A press release titled, "SEC Publishes New Data and Analysis About Registered Investment Companies and Money Market Funds," states, "The Securities and Exchange Commission ... published new data and analysis in a pair of reports that provide the investing public with updated key information about registered investment companies and money market funds. 'It is important that the Commission publicly shares the information it collects in a clear and transparent way,' says Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda. 'These two reports will provide the public with key information about the approximately $41.5 trillion investors trust to funds and the approximately $7.39 trillion invested in money market funds.'"
The SEC says, "Money Market Fund Statistics is an enhanced version of the money market funds report generated by the Division of Investment Management. This report contains additional statistical analysis and enhancements, as well as certain metrics based on Form N-MFP data. The modifications to the report are designed to further facilitate the public's ability to efficiently review, digest, and use aggregate information about the money market fund industry by including summaries of more money market fund data, including information about internal affiliated funds, portfolio investments, flows, and industry concentration. The report extends the downloadable historical statistical series of data back to 2010."
Tim Husson, who leads the SEC's Division of Investment Management's Analytics Office, adds, "Forms N-MFP and N-CEN provide insights into key areas of the investment company industry. The reports reflect our continued dedication to enhance the public's use of important information about the industry."
We're almost approaching midway in the latest quarterly earnings season, and mentions of money market funds and "cash" are few and far between. Charles Schwab, which reported its Q2'26 earnings earlier this week, is normally a wealth of comments on sweeps and cash sorting. But not this quarter. On their Summer Business Update, President & CEO Rick Wurster says, "Our bank is an important differentiator for us. Our ability to offer checking, payments, and lending makes it easy for clients to consolidate their financial lives with us. For our ... clients, this represents an opportunity to help the RIAs on our platform meet more of their clients' financial needs in one place." (For more on Q2 earnings calls, see our July 20 Crane Data News: "State Street Q2'26 Earnings Call on Tokenized MMFs, Stablecoin Reserves and our July 16 Link of the Day, "BlackRock Talks Tokenization on Call.")
CFO Michael Verdeschi tells analysts, "Momentum within the technology sector helped lift equity markets to their best quarterly performance since early 2020, which in combination with robust asset gathering and client interest in Schwab's wealth and asset management offerings, drove 16% year-over-year growth in asset management and administration fees to $1.8 billion.... Bank deposit account fees grew 35% year-over-year due to continued improvement in the net yield, other revenue was up 32% versus 2Q 2025, with stronger trading volumes as well as typical second quarter seasonality."
He explains, "Client cash followed typical seasonal trends, including tax payments in April. While strong equity markets lifted sentiment and supported elevated trading activity, transactional sweep cash increased by $24.2 billion in 2Q, largely driven by demand for long-short strategies as well as organic asset gathering. Beyond the growth related to long-short, client cash trends remain strong with year-to-date underlying cash performing better than our initial expectations coming into the year."
Verdeschi comments, "Clients are deepening their relationship with us and obviously it comes with an incremental spread over security. You are seeing the year-over-year NIM expansion. [The] primary driver was that lending activity. Of course, we’ll have to see where interest rates go from here. In the scenario we assume that one hike, but that's very late in the year, that's December. It doesn't impact the financials for 2026 if that hike occurred. You would see further expansion in 2027."
During the Q&A, he responds on rates, "Keep in mind that we'll have to see how the rate path plays out. Right now we were assuming one hike. That hike was for the December meeting so you're not seeing that incremental pickup in 2026. If that hike were to occur it's going to be impacting the financials in 2027. No, we feel good about the net interest margin expansion that we've seen so far. If rates resume a hiking pattern, you'll see even more expansion. Again, that lending activity has been strong. That comes with incremental spread relative to securities. We continue to see cash build organically as well. Again, we've seen growth in the first half of the year despite the seasonality of Q1 and Q2."
Verdeschi answers another question, "When I look at that year-over-year growth in net interest margin the vast majority certainly was driven by that, I'll call it that lending both at margin lending, non-long-short as well as the bank lending which was primarily driven by the Pledged Asset Line. Much of that is coming from that lending activity. Of course, as I mentioned, we've seen deposits perform well despite the first couple of quarters of seasonality. Now, in securities, we haven't grown that portfolio meaningfully. It's been relatively stable because, again, given the demand for lending, we've been happy to meet that client need. Again, I've talked about how it meets the client need, it deepens the relationship, and it comes with better economics."
Northern Trust (NTRS) also reported Q2 earnings, and the company was quieter than usual on all things cash. Chairman & CEO Mike O'Grady says, "Assets under administration across hedge funds, private capital, and semi-liquid structures now exceed $1 trillion.... [W]e continue to progress our digital assets capabilities as institutional clients look for trusted providers to support the evolution of tokenized markets."
He explains, "Our approach remains targeted and disciplined, focused on areas where Northern Trust can bring institutional standards of control, servicing, and risk management to both traditional and digital markets. Overall, asset servicing's performance reflects the continued execution of a focused strategy, deepening relationships with sophisticated clients, scaling high-value capabilities, and investing in the areas where clients' needs are evolving. Turning to asset management, NTAM continued to build momentum in the second quarter, with diversified asset gathering across several priority areas."
O'Grady comments, "Liquidity was also a standout area. We had a record quarter for liquidity flows, extending our streak to 14 consecutive quarters of positive organic liquidity flows while continuing to gain market share across both the U.S. and EMEA. As a top 10 money market fund manager in the U.S., we continue to benefit from the breadth of our global liquidity platform and clients' confidence in our risk discipline and service model."
CFO Dave Fox states, "Average deposits within wealth management were $26.7 billion, up 1% sequentially, while average loans were $35.8 billion, also up 1%. Pre-tax income was $334 million, generating a pre-tax margin of 37%. As discussed in the second quarter of 2025, we reorganized wealth management to better drive growth and client coverage."
He says, "Turning to our balance sheet and net interest income trends.... Our average earning assets were $151 billion, down 2% sequentially, as lower deposits drove a decrease in money market assets. The fixed percentage of the securities portfolio was 52%, consistent with the prior quarter, including the impact of swaps. The duration of the securities portfolio was 1.4 years, and the duration of our total balance sheet remained under one year. Average deposits were $128 billion, down 1% sequentially, reflecting slight normalization following elevated short-term institutional deposits in the first quarter."
Northern's CFO explains, "Within the deposit base, interest-bearing deposits decreased 2% sequentially, while non-interest-bearing deposits increased 4%, representing 15% of the overall mix. Net interest income ... was $683 million, up 3% sequentially and up 11% from a year ago. Sequentially, NII was favorably impacted by an improved deposit mix, higher yields from securities repositioning mentioned earlier, and one additional day in the quarter. Our net interest margin ... was 1.81%, up 6 basis points sequentially, reflecting a favorable deposit mix in the second quarter. The sequential comparison also benefited from the reversal of NIM compression in the first quarter due to the impact of elevated short-term institutional deposits."
Finally, when asked about IPOs, O'Grady responds, "Even aside from wealth management, we see the impacts and the benefits from that. We've talked about liquidity. Broadly speaking, when there is greater capital raising, those dollars need to go somewhere initially. We've seen the specific benefits of that flowing into, whether it's the balance sheet, but also into our money market funds."
With just 2 months to go, we're ramping up preparations for our 12th Annual European Money Fund Symposium, which will take place Sept. 24-25 at the Pullman Hotel in Paris, France. The latest agenda is available and registrations are still being taken for our European money market mutual fund event. We provide more details on the show below. Our 2025 European Symposium event in Dublin attracted almost 200 money fund professionals, sponsors and speakers. Given the continued growth in money fund assets, trends like tokenization and expectations for another round of regulatory changes in Europe, we expect our show in Paris to once again be the largest gathering of money market professionals outside the U.S.
"European Money Fund Symposium offers European, global and 'offshore' money market portfolio managers, investors, issuers, dealers and service providers a concentrated and affordable educational experience, and an excellent and informal networking venue," says Crane Data President Peter Crane. "Our mission is to deliver the best possible conference content and experience at an affordable price to money market fund professionals," he adds.
Registration for European Money Fund Symposium is $1,000 USD. EMFS will be held at the Hotel Pullman Paris La Defense. Hotel rooms must be booked before August 3 to receive our discounted rate of E250. Visit www.craneeurosymposium.com to register, and contact us to request the PDF brochure. (Let us know too if you'd like information on sponsorships or speaking in future years too.)
The EMFS agenda features sessions conducted by many of the leading authorities on money funds in Europe and worldwide. The Day One Agenda for Crane's European Money Fund Symposium includes: "IMMFA Update: The State of MMFs in Europe" with Veronica Iommi of IMMFA and Alastair Sewell of Aviva Investors; "French Money Fund & Money Market Outlook" with Vanessa Robert of Moody's Ratings, Marc Fleury of BNP Paribas AM and Olivier Gayno of HSBC Asset Management; and, "Senior Portfolio Manager Perspectives," with moderator Dan Singer of J.P. Morgan Securities, Andrew Daly of Northern Trust Asset Management and Johan du Plessis of J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
The afternoon will consist of: "Sterling & U.K. Money Fund Issues" with Harm Carstens of DWS Investment and Paul Mueller of Invesco; "Euro & ESG Money Funds; Step CP Overview" with Florian Helly of Lombard Odier Investment Management and Amandine Maes of the European Money Markets Institute; "Repo, Trading Platforms & Money Market Portals," with David Skingle of Barclays and Darren Wilson of State Street; and lastly, "Ultra-Short Bond Funds, ETF MMFs & Alt-Cash" with Warren Clayton-Howe of Invesco, Neil Hutchison of J.P. Morgan AM and Sara Malinowsky of Fitch Ratings.
The Day Two Agenda includes: "Continental & European Money Market Funds" with Corrado Camera of ICI Global, Michael Mango of S&P Global Ratings and Rudolf Siebel of BVI; "Tokenized Money Funds & Tech Issues" with Brenden Carroll of Dechert LLP, Sam Jacob of BNY and Rachel Thornton of Northern Trust; and, "U.S. Money Fund & USD Market Update" with Peter Crane of Crane Data and Rob Sabatino of UBS Asset Management.
The afternoon of day 2 will include: "Asian & Chinese Money Fund Update" with Minyue Wang of Fitch Ratings; "Dealer & Issuer Supply; CP & ABCP Roundtable" with Stewart Cutler of Barclays, Kieran Davis of Nearwater Capital and Marianne Medora of Groupe BPCE/Natixis; "Strategists Speak: Euro MM Update" with Rohan Khanna of Barclays and Sphia Salim of BofA Securities; and a "Regulatory Review & Potential Reforms" with Dennis Gepp of Federated Hermes and John Hunt of Sullivan & Worcester LLP.
Also, we're making plans for our next "basic training" event, Crane's Money Fund University, which will be held in Greenwich, Conn., Dec. 17-18, 2026. Money Fund University covers the history of money funds, interest rates, regulations (Rule 2a-7), ratings, rankings, money market instruments such as commercial paper, CDs and Treasuries, and portfolio construction and credit analysis. We also include segments on offshore money funds and ultra-short bond funds. Money Fund University's comprehensive program is good for both beginners and experienced professionals looking for a refresher.
Mark your calendars too for our next Bond Fund Symposium, which will be held in Philadelphia on March 22-23, 2027. (Click here to see last year's agenda.) Bond Fund Symposium is the only conference devoted entirely to bond mutual funds, bringing together bond fund managers, marketers, and professionals with fixed-income issuers, investors and service providers. The majority of the content is aimed at the growing ultra-short and conservative ultra-short bond fund marketplace.
Finally, Crane Data will begin preparations this fall for our next big show, Money Fund Symposium, which is scheduled for June 23-25, 2027 in Philadelphia, Pa. The 2027 MFS agenda will be released late this year and registration will open in the fall.
Money Fund Symposium attracts money fund managers, marketers and servicers, cash investors, money market securities dealers, issuers, and regulators for 2 1/2 days of sessions, socializing and networking. Visit the MF Symposium website at www.moneyfundsymposium.com for more details. Registration for MFS'27 will be $1,200. (E-mail us at info@cranedata.com to request the full brochure.)
Let us know if you'd like more details on any of our events, and we hope to see you in Paris in September, in Greenwich in December, or in Philadelphia in March or June 2027. Thanks to all of our speakers, sponsors and attendees for your support!
Bloomberg writes that, "Money Funds Keep Cash Closer as Fed Leaves Markets Guessing." The article, written by Alex Harris, tells us, "Money market funds are shifting toward ultra short-term holdings and away from assets with even modest interest-rate risk as uncertainty grows over the Federal Reserve's policy path and the near-term outlook for rates. The weighted average maturity of fund holdings has fallen to 40 days from 45 days in mid-May, according to Crane Data LLC. Managers have directed more cash into overnight repurchase agreements and short-dated securities, while increasing allocations to floating-rate agency and Treasury debt. Exposure to T-bills has edged lower even as the government ramps up issuance."
It continues, "A surge in oil prices and a more hawkish tone from the Fed under Chairman Kevin Warsh had traders pricing in a rate increase as soon as this month. But a pair of benign inflation reports last week further clouded the policy outlook, prompting markets to reassess those expectations. Against that unsettled backdrop, money funds overseeing more than $8 trillion are favoring securities that mature, roll over or reset within weeks, preserving the flexibility to reinvest at higher yields should rates rise again."
The piece quotes Deborah Cunningham, Federated Hermes' CIO for Global Liquidity, "You want to keep some powder dry for better opportunities down the road so you want those WAMs to come in a bit."
Bloomberg says, "Managers are trying to avoid a repeat of early 2022, when some were caught with relatively long-dated holdings ahead of what became one of the Fed's fastest tightening cycles in decades. The experience has left them more reluctant to take interest-rate risk when the policy path is unclear."
They also quote "Geoff Gibbs, a managing director at DWS Group, said at the Crane's Money Fund Symposium last month that they've kept roughly half the portfolio in repo for most of the year and don't expect that to change, especially now that rate hikes are being folded into the outlook."
The piece adds, "Money market funds' allocations to repo increased by about $36 billion in June to roughly $1.89 trillion, Crane Data show. Federated's Cunningham said she expects weighted average maturities to shorten further as the Fed prioritizes bringing inflation back toward its target."
They quote Wells Fargo's [Angelo] Manolatos, "With September still on the table and plenty of hawkish Fed speak about potential hikes, money market funds will want to gradually shorten WAMs from here. It's a fairly high bar for money managers to want to do anything other than deploying excess cash in repo or floaters if they can avoid it."
In other news, State Street recently published, "Fund Connect Quarterly: A Hawkish Lead Into the Second Half," which states, "Multiple market-based measures point to at least one Fed hike in the second half of 2026, followed by another in early 2027. Since June 21, September Fed funds futures have fluctuated between 17 and 25bps of tightening priced, while December contracts imply roughly 37bps, suggesting that one hike this year is fully priced and a second remains a meaningful possibility. Options markets tell a similar story: SOFR options imply nearly a 70% probability of at least one hike by year-end, while the likelihood of no change has fallen below 20%. Looking further ahead, SOFR options assign greater than a 50% probability to two cumulative hikes by March 2027."
They tell us, "Cash managers at the largest money market funds have taken notice. Weighted average maturities (WAMs) have declined from a Q1 peak of 46 days in April to 37 days currently, reflecting a preference to retain flexibility and reinvest at potentially higher yields.... That said, a 37-day WAM does not signal expectations for an aggressive tightening cycle. During Fed's 2022–23 hiking campaign, WAMs fell below 10 days. Rather, current positioning suggests money market managers anticipate a gradual rise in short-term rates and want the ability to redeploy assets at more attractive yields over the coming quarters."
The brief adds, "In the second half of Q2, real-money demand for bills increased alongside a rise in money market fund assets.... While several factors contributed to the increase in cash across the system, including elevated Treasury bill and corporate debt issuance, the resulting excess liquidity helped drive funding rates meaningfully lower through the quarter. Although funding rates have since normalized, they do not currently signal liquidity pressures, as overall market liquidity remains ample. More recently, inflows into bills have slowed, and cash allocations remain relatively limited as multi-asset investors continue to take a glass-half-full approach to asset allocation."
State Street reported its Q2'26 earnings late last week, and the earnings call contained some discussions of tokenization of money funds, cash and stablecoin reserves. CEO Ronald O'Hanley says, "Record NII [drove] total quarterly revenue up 17% year over year to an all-time high.... Our digital asset platform is always on financial infrastructure that will enable clients to rapidly bridge from traditional to digital finance and we continue to make strong progress in advancing this strategy. In 2Q, we announced our intention to deliver a tokenized fund servicing capability by year end, subject to regulatory approval. Following a competitive process, a leading European asset manager selected State Street to serve as tokenized money market funds expected to launch later this year."
He explains, "State Street Investment Management is also expected to be an early adopter of this offering, underscoring the strength of our One State Street approach. Our investment management business continued its focus on innovation and product capability to position the franchise for sustained growth and it demonstrated further evidence of the power of our franchises working together as an integrated One State Street. Turning to State Street Markets, we continue to demonstrate the strength of our integrated liquidity and financing capabilities driving strong client activity."
CFO John Woods comments, "Fee revenue of $3.2 billion increased 16% year over year, reflecting strong performance across investment services, investment management, and markets, while net interest income of $860 million increased 18%, driven by a 17 basis point increase in net interest margin to 113 basis points. Assets under management ended the quarter at a record $6.3 trillion, up 23% year over year, supported by higher period-end market levels and positive net flows. Net inflows totaled $114 billion in the quarter, marking our fifth consecutive quarter of positive organic growth. This performance was primarily driven by strong index ETF and cash net inflows of $66 billion and $35 billion, respectively."
He continues, "We launched 38 new products and solutions during the quarter, including a tokenized money market solution and a stablecoin reserves fund, further advancing our digital assets strategy.... Net interest income of $860 million increased 18% year over year, driven by a 17 basis point expansion in net interest margin to 113 basis points. The improvement in NIM reflected a more favorable funding mix, continued benefits from investment portfolio repricing, and the runoff of terminated hedges partially offset by lower average market rates. Average interest-earning assets of $305 billion were largely stable from the prior year quarter as growth in deposit balances was partially offset by lower short-term borrowings.... We also expect continued support from net interest income, which remains closely tied to the client deposit growth and underlying strength of our servicing business."
Asked about "all things digital assets, stablecoin and tokenized deposits," O'Hanley responds, "In terms of your specific question on digital, the way we think about this is we're primarily an infrastructure provider to our clients, enabling them to do, to execute their digital strategies. So who are our clients? Our clients are global investors. Right. So that's why we're focusing on the ... the traditional to digital back to traditional kind of rails, because it'll be a long time before the whole infrastructure stack is digital."
He explains, "And then secondly, we're focused on things that relate to those investors, asset managers or asset owners. Hence, for example, the focus on tokenized money market funds. Who are our client base? Well, a large segment of them are large asset managers. So we're picking our spots and going to where we know our clients want to go is the way to think about it."
Woods tells us, "We launched our digital asset platform recently. It's a secure, scalable platform. I think we're trying to create the capabilities to manage wallets and really manage the on ramp and off ramp between traditional finance and into the digital on chain world.... We're focused on enabling client launches of tokenized money markets. And so that's early in the roadmap and we're excited about that. And you know, and I think on the other side of the house with respect to investment management, we also announced a couple of digital asset ecosystem product launches as well."
He adds, "Across the One State Street lens we, you know, State Street Investment management did launch a tokenized money market fund on chain, basically cash equivalent for the digital ecosystem, creating new distribution, etc. And broadly asset managers love this with respect to the distribution aspects as well as collateral mobility, and investment management also launched a Stablecoin Reserves Money Market Fund as well know targeted to stablecoin issuers."
Woods says, "I think it's going to be table stakes for us in the, in the space that we're in to have these capabilities. As we mentioned, you know, alternatives is probably the most mature of the three that we're spotlighting here today.... I think the specific areas that we're talking about is continuing to drive our leading franchise as it stands with ETFs, index and fixed income and just our global distribution expanding."
Finally, in response to another question, O'Hanley states, "I think what's playing out is like a lot of technologies, there's an awful lot of promise and the early delivery I think underwhelms and is disappointing and then the later delivery actually is greater than what everybody anticipates. And I suspect that's how this will play out. I mean, if you think about some of this blockchain technology, it's not new at all.... But if you think about what it enables, just think about collateral loans and the ability ... to transform money market funds into collateral eligible. There'll be so much pressure to do that."
After almost breaking the $8.0 trillion barrier last week, the Investment Company Institute's latest weekly "Money Market Fund Assets" report shows money fund assets plunging $59.9 billion to $7.893 trillion. Assets increased $5.2 billion to a record $7.953 trillion the previous week (and increased $47.7 billion the week before this). MMF assets are up by $828 billion, or 11.7%, over the past 52 weeks (through 7/15/26), with Institutional MMFs up $659 billion, or 15.9% and Retail MMFs up $169 billion, or 5.8%. Year-to-date in 2026, MMF assets are up by $160 billion, or 2.1%, with Institutional MMFs up $153 billion, or 3.3% and Retail MMFs up $7 billion, or 0.2%.
ICI's weekly release says, "Total money market fund assets decreased by $59.90 billion to $7.89 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, July 15, the Investment Company Institute reported.... Among taxable money market funds, decreased by $52.62 billion and prime funds decreased by $4.90 billion. Tax-exempt money market funds decreased by $2.38 billion." ICI's stats show Institutional MMFs decreasing $52.4 billion and Retail MMFs decreasing $7.5 billion in the latest week. Total Government MMF assets, including Treasury funds, were $6.511 trillion (82.5% of all money funds), while Total Prime MMFs were $1.236 trillion (15.7%). Tax Exempt MMFs totaled $145.9 billion (1.8%).
It explains, "Assets of retail money market funds decreased by $7.50 billion to $3.08 trillion. Among retail funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $5.52 billion to $1.96 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $607 million to $988.44 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $1.38 billion to $134.08 billion." Retail assets account for 39.1% of the total, and Government Retail assets make up 63.6% of all Retail MMFs.
They add, "Assets of institutional money market funds decreased by $52.39 billion to $4.81 trillion. Among institutional funds, government money market fund assets decreased by $47.10 billion to $4.55 trillion, prime money market fund assets decreased by $4.29 billion to $247.98 billion, and tax-exempt fund assets decreased by $1.00 billion to $11.76 billion." Institutional assets accounted for 60.9% of all MMF assets, with Government Institutional assets making up 94.6% of all institutional MMF totals.
According to Crane Data's separate Money Fund Intelligence Daily series, money fund assets have decreased by $43.3 billion to $8.307 trillion month-to-date in July (as of 7/15), assets reached an all-time high of $8.404 trillion on July 6. Assets increased $58.6 billion in June, $208.6 billion in May, decreased by $108.8 billion in April, $49.3 billion in March, increased $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 $63.7 billion last July. Note that `ICI's asset totals don't include a number of funds tracked by the SEC and Crane Data, so they're almost $400 billion lower than Crane's asset series.
In related news, ICI also recently published "Tokenization: An Asset Management Perspective," which tells us, "Technological innovation has contributed tremendously to economic progress and prosperity.... Beyond technological innovation, asset managers have long pursued product innovation to broaden investor access to capital markets and to help investors achieve their financial objectives -- from the first mutual fund in 1924, to money market funds in the early 1970s, to the emergence of exchange-traded funds (ETFs)."
The paper says, "In recent years, one technological innovation that has drawn considerable attention in capital markets is blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology.... A particular use case for blockchain -- the tokenization of securities -- has gained considerable momentum as part of broader efforts to tokenize so-called 'real‑world assets' and has demonstrated the potential to deliver material real-world benefits at scale. But in general, tokenization of real-world assets refers to the digital representation of interests in existing assets (e.g., mutual fund shares, ETFs, stocks, ... etc.) that takes the form of a 'token' (a type of digital asset) issued, held, transferred, and recorded on a blockchain -- effectively bringing those real-world assets 'onchain.'"
It explains, "Unlike traditional mutual fund share trades, which typically settle on a T+1 basis, or ETFs, which primarily trade only during normal exchange hours, tokenized fund shares technologically enable near-instant 24/7 trading. Tokenized money market fund shares already are capable of trading on a 24/7 peer-to-peer basis, and one asset manager has received exemptive relief from the SEC to facilitate secondary-market transactions of its tokenized government money market fund at a fixed $1.00 per share (plus or minus dealer compensation). This relief also permits investors to settle transactions in fund shares from dealers using stablecoins rather than US dollars, potentially allowing investors to move more efficiently between crypto and traditional securities markets."
ICI writes, "The near-instant settlement of a tokenized fund's shares may also spur other product design innovations. For example, one asset manager has introduced an 'intraday yield' feature on its tokenization platform that allows for calculation and distribution of yield 'down to the second.' This feature allows for yield to effectively follow a share, so that each person who holds the share throughout the trading day receives their ratable portion of the fund’s daily yield. Other market participants have similarly explored or made available mechanisms for continuous interest or yield accrual associated with tokenized fund interests and blockchain-based recordkeeping systems. Features such as this may make certain funds economically more attractive to certain investors."
They state, "Tokenized money market funds and similar short-duration products may also serve as reserve management and treasury management tools within blockchain-based payment ecosystems. In particular, tokenized registered government money market funds may provide yield-bearing reserve assets for stablecoin issuers, digital asset platforms, and businesses operating primarily onchain, allowing such entities to maintain exposure to high‑quality liquid assets providing yield in a highly regulated environment while preserving operational connectivity to blockchain‑based payment and settlement systems."
ICI tells us, "Tokenization would also facilitate fractionalization of fund shares and could lead to lower investment thresholds. Lowering barriers to entry for investments in a fund may help such funds reach new investor bases, including 'onchain natives' and younger investors. For example, some tokenized money market funds have minimum investments as low as $20."
They add, "In addition, by acting as a bridge with traditional asset management, tokenized funds have the opportunity to reach onchain and 'crypto-native' investors. The global cryptocurrency market is estimated to be in the trillions. Tokenized funds can meet demand from existing digital asset owners for diversified onchain offerings, including yield-bearing investments such as money market funds -- not to mention those who may gravitate toward tokenized securities in the future."
Crane Data's latest Money Fund Intelligence International shows that assets in European or "offshore" money market mutual funds increased over the past 30 days to a new record high of $1.706 trillion, the previous record of $1.697 trillion was seen the month prior. Yields were mixed, while assets for USD and GBP MMFs rose and EUR MMFs declined over the past month. Like U.S. money fund assets, European MMFs have repeatedly hit record highs in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. These U.S.-style money funds, domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg and denominated in US Dollars, Pound Sterling and Euros, increased by $16.9 billion over the 30 days through 7/14. The totals are up $121.7 billion (7.7%) 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: Please join us for our upcoming European Money Fund Symposium, which will be held Sept. 24-25 in Paris, France.)
Offshore US Dollar money funds increased $18.6 billion over the last 30 days and are up $65.7 billion YTD to $901.7 billion; they increased $92.3 billion in 2025. Euro funds decreased E6.2 billion over the past month. YTD, they're up E22.9 billion to E353.3 billion, for 2025, they increased by E12.6 billion. GBP money funds increased L4.1 billion over 30 days, and they're up L15.2 billion YTD at L288.3B, for 2025, they rose L18.5 billion. U.S. Dollar (USD) money funds (323) account for over half (52.9%) of the "European" money fund total, while Euro (EUR) money funds (241) make up 24.3% and Pound Sterling (GBP) funds (211) total 22.8%. We summarize our latest "offshore" money fund statistics and our Money Fund Intelligence International Portfolio Holdings (which went out to subscribers Wednesday), below.
Offshore USD MMFs yield 3.57% (7-Day) on average (as of 7/14/26), unchanged 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 2.19% on average, up 18 bps from a month ago and up from 1.48% on 12/30/22 and -0.80% on 12/31/21. Meanwhile, GBP MMFs broke above the 5.0% barrier 35 months ago, but they broke back below 5.0% 24 months ago. They now yield 3.77%, up 1 bp from a month ago, and up from 3.17% on 12/30/22. Sterling yields were 0.01% on 12/31/21.
Crane's July MFI International Portfolio Holdings, with data as of 6/30/26, show that European-domiciled US Dollar MMFs, on average, consist of 31% in Commercial Paper (CP), 16% in Certificates of Deposit (CDs), 25% in Repo, 15% in Treasury securities, 11% in Other securities (primarily Time Deposits) and 2% in Government Agency securities. USD funds have on average 47.2% of their portfolios maturing Overnight, 6.3% maturing in 2-7 Days, 9.1% maturing in 8-30 Days, 9.6% maturing in 31-60 Days, 6.4% maturing in 61-90 Days, 13.1% maturing in 91-180 Days and 8.4% maturing beyond 181 Days. USD holdings are affiliated with the following countries: the U.S. (33.8%), Canada (12.9%), France (11.0%), Japan (6.9%), Germany (5.7%), the Netherlands (5.2%), the U.K. (4.8%), Australia (4.5%), Sweden (3.2%) and Finland (2.9%).
The 10 Largest Issuers to "offshore" USD money funds include: the US Treasury with $134.8B (15.0%), Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $44.7B (5.0%), RBC with $38.0B (4.2%), Nordea Bank with $25.8B (2.9%), Wells Fargo with $22.9B (2.6%), JP Morgan with $20.8B (2.3%), Barclays PLC with $20.2B (2.3%), Credit Agricole with $19.6B (2.2%), Societe Generale with $19.6B (2.2%) and BNP Paribas with $19.1B (2.1%).
Euro MMFs tracked by Crane Data contain, on average 37% in CP, 23% in CDs, 16% in Other (primarily Time Deposits), 22% in Repo, 2% in Treasuries and 0% in Agency securities. EUR funds have on average 39.8% of their portfolios maturing Overnight, 6.6% maturing in 2-7 Days, 13.7% maturing in 8-30 Days, 10.1% maturing in 31-60 Days, 8.4% maturing in 61-90 Days, 12.0% maturing in 91-180 Days and 9.4% maturing beyond 181 Days. EUR MMF holdings are affiliated with the following countries: France (24.6%), Canada (10.6%), the U.S. (10.3%), Japan (10.2%), the Netherlands (6.7%), Germany (5.4%), the U.K. (5.1%), Australia (4.1%), Sweden (4.1%) and Belgium (3.8%).
The 10 Largest Issuers to "offshore" EUR money funds include: BNP Paribas with E16.3B (5.2%), Credit Agricole with E15.7B (5.0%), JP Morgan with E10.9B (3.5%), ING Bank with E10.5B (3.4%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd with E10.0B (3.2%), Agence Central de Organismes de Securite Sociale with E9.2B (2.9%), RBC with E8.6B (2.8%), Bank of Nova Scotia with E8.6B (2.7%), Nordea Bank with E8.1B (2.6%) and Societe Generale with E7.9B (2.5%).
The GBP funds tracked by MFI International contain, on average (as of 6/30/26): 37% in CDs, 22% in CP, 20% in Other (Time Deposits), 19% in Repo, 2% in Treasury and 0% in Agency. Sterling funds have on average 35.3% of their portfolios maturing Overnight, 9.0% maturing in 2-7 Days, 10.0% maturing in 8-30 Days, 11.3% maturing in 31-60 Days, 9.1% maturing in 61-90 Days, 14.2% maturing in 91-180 Days and 11.0% maturing beyond 181 Days. GBP MMF holdings are affiliated with the following countries: Canada (16.5%), France (14.8%), Japan (11.8%), the U.K. (11.6%), the U.S. (11.1%), Australia (8.1%), the Netherlands (5.0%), Singapore (4.1%), Finland (2.9%) and Spain (2.9%).
The 10 Largest Issuers to "offshore" GBP money funds include: RBC with L13.3B (5.1%), BNP Paribas with L12.1B (4.6%), UK Treasury with L11.8B (4.5%), Citi with L9.4B (3.6%), Toronto-Dominion Bank with L8.8B (3.4%), Bank of Nova Scotia with L8.1B (3.1%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd with L7.6B (2.9%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank with L7.2B (2.8%), National Australia Bank Ltd with L7.0B (2.7%) and Nordea Bank with L6.8B (2.6%).
In other news, BNY Mellon reported its latest quarterly earnings, which talked briefly about cash, deposits and stablecoins. CEO Robin Vince comments, "Another component of innovation is linked to the shift toward an always-on financial ecosystem. Payments, liquidity, collateral, digital assets, and securities markets are becoming more interconnected, creating demand for infrastructure that operates with greater speed, certainty, and resilience."
He says, "We believe this represents one of the defining opportunities for financial services over the next decade. It is an area where BNY is well-positioned to lead. In the second quarter, we announced our expanded relationship with Circle, bringing together institutional digital asset custody with mint and burn capabilities for USDC within a single operating model. This builds on our role as custodian of USDC reserves and enables clients to move more seamlessly between traditional cash and blockchain-based networks through infrastructure that combines institutional-grade governance, operational resilience, and scale. We expect this will be a recurring theme as we continue to invest in the infrastructure that we believe will support the future of financial markets."
CFO Dermot McDonogh says, "Average deposit balances moderated by 1% sequentially. Non-interest-bearing deposits remained flat and interest-bearing deposits decreased by 2%. Average interest earning assets were flat sequentially. Underneath cash and reverse repo balances decreased by 3%. Investment securities balances increased by 2% and loans increased by 6%, primarily driven by growth in securities finance."
He adds, "Amid a supportive market backdrop, including strong money market fund flows, growing dealer balance sheets, and higher equity market values, we've been successful in developing innovative solutions that bring together capabilities from across BNY to support our clients' growth. In payments and trade, investment services fees were up 7%, reflecting net new business.... In the second quarter, we saw $3 billion of net inflows primarily driven by cash and fixed income strategies, partially offset by net outflows in LDI index and equity strategies."
Finally, when asked about rate hikes and deposit betas, McDonogh replies, "As it relates deposits, like we consistently say, we don't lead with deposit or deposit pricing. Deposits come as a result of all the client activity. That's why we feel like deposits have held in, particularly non-interest-bearing deposits have held in well. That's as a result of all the franchise activity that's happening around the firm across many of our platform businesses. As it relates to betas, we think it'll be largely in line with the last cycle, that was 80% for dollars and 60%-70% for EUR and GBP. Just remember that we're predominantly a dollar book, it's roughly 75% dollars, the rest split between EUR and GBP, then some JPY in there as well, but small."
The July issue of our Bond Fund Intelligence, which was sent to subscribers Wednesday a.m., features the articles, "Worldwide BF Assets Jump to $16.9 Tril., Led by US & Brazil," which reviews the latest global bond fund statistics from ICI; and "PIMCO's Schneider on Ultra-Shorts, ETFs at Symposium," which highlights a panel from our recent Money Fund Symposium conference in Jersey City. BFI also recaps the latest Bond Fund News and includes our Crane BFI Indexes, which show that bond fund returns inched higher in June while yields were flat. 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.)
BFI's lead article states, "Bond fund assets worldwide increased in the latest quarter to $16.94 trillion, led higher by the five largest bond fund markets - the U.S., Luxembourg, China, Ireland and Brazil. We review the ICI's 'Worldwide Regulated Open-End Fund Assets and Flows, First Quarter 2026' release and statistics below."
It continues, "ICI says, 'Worldwide regulated open-end fund assets, excluding funds of funds, decreased 0.8% to $87.23 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2026.... The Investment Company Institute compiles worldwide regulated open-end fund statistics on behalf of the International Investment Funds Association (IIFA).'"
Our "PIMCO's Schneider" article states, "Crane Data hosted its big Money Fund Symposium conference in Jersey City recently, where over 740 money market professionals discussed rates, tokenization, record asset levels and a number of other hot topics in cash. Below, we quote from the session, 'Money Market & Ultra-Short ETFs,' which featured Bob Cousart of BlackRock, Jon-Luc Dupuy of K&L Gates, and Jerome Schneider of PIMCO.' (Note: See our 'Money Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center' for more.)"
It continues, "Cousart says, 'So, unlike short-duration ETFs, money market ETFs adhere to the strict regulatory guidelines of 2a-7, capital preservation and liquidity. So having that little '2a-7' stamp, that does mean something for certain investors who want to have that sense of safety.... Money market ETFs really round out that broad spectrum of fixed income ETFs, serving as a kind of a bookend for the whole broad spectrum.'"
Our first News brief, "Returns Inch Higher, Yields Flat in June," states, "Bond fund returns were slightly higher again in June while yields were flat. Our BFI Total Index rose 0.32% over 1-month and rose 4.87% over 12 months. (Money funds rose 3.77% over 1-year as measured by our Crane 100 Index.) The BFI 100 increased 0.24% in June and rose 4.47% over 12 mos. Our BFI Conservative Ultra-Short Index was up 0.26% over 1-month and 4.18% for 1-year; Ultra-Shorts rose 0.26% and 4.19%. Short-Term rose 0.11% and 3.74%, and Intm-Term increased 0.21% in June and rose 4.35% over 12 mos. BFI's Long-Term Index was up 0.31% and 4.27%. High Yield rose 0.26% in June and 5.71% over 12 mos."
A second News brief, "ETF.com Says 'SGOV Nears $100 Billion.' The brief tells us, 'The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) is closing in on $100 billion in assets, a level no ultra-short-term bond ETF has reached. The fund holds $97.9 billion after pulling in $28.9 billion ... this year, making it the largest fund in its category and the third-largest ... fixed-income ETF, behind the $160 billion Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) and the $139 billion iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG).'"
Our third brief says, "'Fidelity Investments to Launch its First ETF Share Classes,' says a press release. It tells us, 'Fidelity Investments ... announced the upcoming launch of its first ETF share classes, Fidelity Intermediate Municipal Income ETF (FIMU), Fidelity Real Estate Income ETF (FREI), and Fidelity Short-Term Bond ETF (FSTB). The ETF share classes will be added to existing mutual fund strategies.'"
A BFI sidebar, "DoubleLine's Sherman," states, "A Barron's piece, 'This Bond Maven Is Worried About 'Excesses' in the Market. How He's Investing,' interviews DoubleLine Deputy CIO Jeffrey Sherman. It says, 'Sherman, a member of DoubleLine's fixed-income and global asset allocation committees, is managing portfolios that aim to earn extra yield over Treasuries without taking on too much risk. Barron's spoke with him on June 23 about his strategies: diversifying across fixed-income asset classes including mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, and largely avoiding higher-risk and longer-term bonds.'"
Finally, another sidebar, "JPM Short Duration Update," states, "A recent J.P. Morgan 'Short Duration Update' tells us, 'Low-duration bond funds have witnessed a strong start to the year, with AUMs increasing by about $55bn through May - a 6% gain that has lifted total balances to $986bn. Year-to-date inflows are running modestly ahead of last year's pace ($49bn) and much stronger than in 2024 ($2bn). After a brief pause in March, when flows were essentially flat, investor demand has accelerated meaningfully. Low-duration bond funds attracted roughly $7bn of inflows in April, followed by an even stronger $17bn in May - the largest monthly increase of the year and the strongest monthly inflow since August 2025.'"
As we've been writing, late last month, Crane Data hosted its big Money Fund Symposium conference in Jersey City. (See our July 2 News, "JP Morgan AM's Tufts Says Embrace Innovation in MF Symposium Keynote," and our July 6 News, "Cunningham, Gutierrez, Sabatino Discuss Major Issues at MF Symposium.") Today, we highlight another discussion and quote from the "Senior Portfolio Manager Perspectives" session, which was moderated by Moody's Robert Callagy and which featured State Street Investment Management's Todd Bean, J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Doris Grillo and Vanguard's Nafis Smith. Asked to comment on the "Stablecoins Reserves and Tokenized Money Funds" session, Bean comments, "So when you came to the Symposium last year, you saw our CEO give the keynote address, and she was the very bullish about the technology and the opportunity set that was coming out of that. And we remain so. I think listening to a couple of the panels yesterday, and for this idea of kind of launch it and leave it, build it and they will come, we've partnered with Galaxy Digital on a couple of different products in the space and dealing with people that are living in the crypto financial world and return prospects in the space." (See our July 28, 2025 News, "July MFI Profile: State Street I.M.'s Yie-Hsin Hung on the Future of Cash.") (Note: Conference materials are available in our "Money Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center." See our latest Money Fund Intelligence for more highlights, and mark your calendars for next year's show, which will be June 23-25, 2027 in Philadelphia!)
He continues, "So, I think we are coming into it a little more optimistic than what I've heard from others so far. The space as a whole, I struggle to get my head around that it will be as kind of 'kumbaya' as Adam [Ackermann] just made it sound between stablecoins and tokenized funds. If you're an investor that's going to [buy] the U.S. dollar on-chain, you have a choice to buy a stablecoin or a token. To me, that decision comes down to two things. It's utility and return. So, on the utility side, how am I going to use it? Who's willing to accept it?"
Bean states, "But on the other side, what am I going to earn for the capital that it's taking me to mint the coin or token? That's what really reminds me, and you touched on it at the very end of the last session, [of] the comparison to banks and money market funds going back to the late '70s and early '80s. This idea that Regulation Q at the time capped interest rates on banks and what they were able to pay on top of it created the opportunity for money funds to exist and for our industry to grow the way it has over the years."
He adds, "So, return does matter. That's kind of the way I view stablecoins and tokenized funds at the moment. Tokenized funds are providing a fair market return to on-chain investors, whereas, as Pete highlighted, the stablecoins are still regulated against paying that interest. So, I do think it will be competitive, and I think there's probably better near-term prospects than we've heard so far."
Asked about money market supply, Grillo tells us, "In terms of what we see in supply, so far this year it's been non-financial commercial paper that has been the main driver of growth, and that's typically more on the largely [tier 2] issuers, with some participation from tier one. [W]e saw supply also increase on the onset of the Middle East conflict, which is not unusual. Typically, you see banks and corporates often test liquidity and try to pre-fund when we have any geopolitical development or any credit headlines that could drive volatility.... Fast forward, we have seen what we're seeing currently is typically supply runs dry a little on quarter ends."
She then says, "We're now approaching year end, where banks are going to start to try to ramp up their funding needs over year end to January. We're starting to see that, and typically we'll see some spreads start to widen two to five basis points, but, again, it's a little bit of a mix. Right now, we've seen a backup because of the recent FOMC dots, the Mideast crisis as well. So, it will be interesting to see what happens."
Smith replies, "So, in terms of what we're buying and not buying, clearly I have the focus on repo, [and we] continue to like ... agencies. Pretty much all tenors, I think, make sense in an environment where SOFR [is] relatively elevated compared to, say, like overnight reverse repo at the Fed or something like that. So, agency floggers and repo."
Discussing asset growth and expectations, Bean replies, "Well, you're probably asking the wrong person because it's [the] one call I've had wrong since the pandemic. It's like every year I come [to Money Fund Symposium], and every year Pete's super bullish about the new high we're going to meet, and every year I'm like, there's no way we're going to do that. And then every year I'm wrong, and he's right."
He comments, "But honestly, when we were looking at it earlier this year, we started asking the question, like, why are we getting that wrong? What are we missing there? And I think a really interesting thing we looked at was just the percentage of cash versus the rest of the financial system or the way cash is a percentage of the economy as a whole. So, if you take cash assets and you look at it versus the S&P 500 or you look at it versus GDP, cash assets currently aren't that different than historical norms. So, like, cash and us as a money fund industry have grown as the rest of the financial system, as the rest of the economy has grown. So, I think that's really ... what I was missing over the last few years in getting that call wrong when clients would ask me."
Bean adds, "So, again, I do still think there is room [to grow] given a lot of the volatility. We've seen the uncertainty.... Near-term flows have obviously been skewed by a ton of things. Corporate bond issuance has been massively in the tech zone and is playing a big part in these giant IPOs. We've kind of heard that through a few of the panels as well. It's hard to know how long ... some of that money will stick around, but it is real. We're feeling it and seeing it in the markets. But that's kind of the trickiest part of our job is forecasting what those flows are going to look like over the next week or the next couple of months or the rest of the year."
Grillo replies, "So, in terms of generally in AUM, I think 2026 is unlikely going to be a year of money market fund outflows. Historically, money market fund balances broke as the economy rose, and significant outflows typically occur during extraordinary times where the dotcom caused the global financial crisis, and the pandemic was the time that we saw the most outflows. That's when the Fed came in, slashed interest rates to zero, and real rates were negative. That's when some clients sought other alternatives. But the economy is pretty hot. You know, interest rates are high. Real rates are high -- I think that's a tailwind for money market funds."
Smith summarizes, "Retail flows have been relatively flat year to date. We see that in the industry; we see that at Vanguard. I think year to date we're down honestly in terms of our retail, AUM. Where we are seeing some inflows is in the short duration space. It's our ultra short product that's garnered some cash this year. I think you see that kind of in the history more broadly. We've also seen some growth in our Cash Plus [bank deposit] offer, which Pete asked me to mention the bank deposit program.... This is just a high-yield savings account offer that's meant to complement the money market fund, so we've seen some growth there."
Finally, Smith adds, "Maybe just a quick comment on ETFs. I think I mentioned this last year. For certain investors, I think there's probably an argument for ETFs, but can you compare money market ETF to, say, an ultra-short ETF? I think the value proposition is much less compelling. So, it'll be interesting to see how things evolve. I think that the [consensus here] has been fairly lackluster for money-mark ETFs, and I think the conversation around tokenization is really interesting.... So, I think I'm just somewhat skeptical on the ETF conversation, but very open to the tokenization conversation."
Crane Data's July Money Fund Portfolio Holdings, with data as of June 30, 2026, show that holdings of Repo increased while Treasuries declined. Money market securities held by Taxable U.S. money funds (tracked by Crane Data) decreased by $4.9 billion to $8.220 trillion in June, after increasing $255.9 billion in May, decreasing $105.9 billion in April and $103.0 billion in March. Taxable assets increased $113.2 billion in February, but they decreased $54.6 billion in January. Holdings increased $231.8 billion in December, $134.3 billion in November and $158.4 billion in October. Treasuries, the largest portfolio composition segment, decreased by $95.7 billion. Repo, the second largest segment, increased $68.0 billion in June. 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 decreased $95.7 billion (-2.8%) to $3.277 trillion, or 39.9% of holdings, after increasing $218.9 billion in May, decreasing $266.2 billion in April and increasing $19.2 billion in March. Repurchase Agreements (repo) rose by $68.0 billion (2.3%) to $3.060 trillion, or 37.2% of holdings, in June, after increasing $17.9 billion in May and $51.5 billion in April. Government Agency Debt was up $13.8 billion, or 1.2%, to $1.202 trillion, or 14.6% of holdings. Agencies increased $4.6 billion in May and $90.7 billion in April, but were flat in March (down $2.6 billion). Repo, Treasuries and Agency holdings now total $7.539 trillion, representing 91.7% of all taxable holdings.
Money fund holdings of CP and CDs rose while Other (mainly Time Deposits) fell in June. Commercial Paper (CP) increased $6.2 billion (2.1%) to $303.5 billion, or 3.7% of holdings. CP holdings increased $11.3 billion in May, decreased $5.0 billion in April and decreased $23.3 billion in March. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) increased $6.4 billion (3.2%) to $209.6 billion, or 2.6% of taxable assets. CDs increased $0.7 billion in May and $2.7 billion in April, but decreased $4.5 billion in March. Other holdings, primarily Time Deposits, decreased $3.9 billion (-2.6%) to $150.3 billion, or 1.8% of holdings, after increasing $2.5 billion in May, $20.4 billion in April, and decreasing $22.9 billion in March. VRDNs increased to $17.4 billion, or 0.2% of assets. (Note: This total is VRDNs for taxable funds only. We will post our Tax Exempt MMF holdings separately Monday around noon.)
Prime money fund assets tracked by Crane Data increased to $1.382 trillion, or 16.8% of taxable money funds' $8.220 trillion total. Among Prime money funds, CDs represent 15.2% (up from 14.9% a month ago), while Commercial Paper accounted for 22.0% (up from 21.8% a month ago). The CP totals are comprised of: Financial Company CP, which makes up 12.6% of total holdings, Asset-Backed CP, which accounts for 7.6%, and Non-Financial Company CP, which makes up 1.8%. Prime funds also hold 0.6% in US Govt Agency Debt, 13.0% in US Treasury Debt, 14.3% in US Treasury Repo, 1.7% in Other Instruments, 7.1% in Non-Negotiable Time Deposits, 11.3% in Other Repo, 12.2% in US Government Agency Repo and 1.0% in VRDNs.
Government money fund portfolios totaled $4.422 trillion (53.8% of all MMF assets), up from $4.404 trillion in May, while Treasury money fund assets totaled another $2.390 trillion (29.1%), down from $2.432 trillion the prior month. Government money fund portfolios were made up of 26.9% US Govt Agency Debt, 18.6% US Government Agency Repo, 29.0% US Treasury Debt, 24.9% in US Treasury Repo, 0.5% in Other Instruments. Treasury money funds were comprised of 75.0% US Treasury Debt and 24.9% in US Treasury Repo. Government and Treasury funds combined now total $6.811 trillion, or 82.9% of all taxable money fund assets.
European-affiliated holdings (including repo) decreased by $76.3 billion in June to $641.5 billion; their share of holdings fell to 7.8% from last month's 8.7%. Eurozone-affiliated holdings decreased to $473.7 billion from last month's $503.7 billion; they now account for 5.8% of overall taxable money fund holdings. Asia & Pacific related holdings were up at $338.9 billion (4.1% of the total) from last month's $334.6 billion. Americas related holdings increased to $7.234 trillion from last month's $7.169 trillion; they now represent 88.0% of holdings.
The overall taxable fund Repo totals were made up of: US Treasury Repurchase Agreements (up $35.9 billion, or 1.9%, to $1.893 trillion, or 23.0% of assets); US Government Agency Repurchase Agreements (up $21.1 billion, or 2.2%, to $998.5 billion, or 12.1% of total holdings), and Other Repurchase Agreements (up $10.9 billion, or 6.9%, to $168.9 billion, or 2.1% of holdings). The Commercial Paper totals were comprised of Financial Company Commercial Paper (down $0.1 billion to $174.6 billion, or 2.1% of assets), Asset-Backed Commercial Paper (up $11.2 billion to $104.5 billion, or 1.3%), and Non-Financial Company Commercial Paper (down $4.9 billion to $24.4 billion, or 0.3%).
The 20 largest Issuers to taxable money market funds as of June 30, 2026, include: the US Treasury ($3.277T, 39.9%), Fixed Income Clearing Corp ($1.288T, 15.7%), Federal Home Loan Bank ($861.7B, 10.5%), JP Morgan ($355.5B, 4.3%), RBC ($230.7B, 2.8%), Federal Farm Credit Bank ($209.7B, 2.6%), Citi ($179.5B, 2.2%), Wells Fargo ($174.0B, 2.1%), BNP Paribas ($152.0B, 1.8%), Bank of America ($92.6B, 1.1%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp ($88.1B, 1.1%), Credit Agricole ($83.6B, 1.0%), Goldman Sachs ($76.6B, 0.9%), the Federal National Mortgage Association ($65.8B, 0.8%), Bank of Montreal ($60.3B, 0.7%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($58.8B, 0.7%), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp ($58.7B, 0.7%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($56.6B, 0.7%), Barclays PLC ($55.9B, 0.7%) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ($54.5B, 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 ($1.266T, 41.4%), JP Morgan ($344.6B, 11.3%), RBC ($189.0B, 6.2%), Citi ($168.5B, 5.5%), Wells Fargo ($162.1B, 5.3%), BNP Paribas ($141.4B, 4.6%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp ($76.0B, 2.5%), Goldman Sachs ($72.1B, 2.4%), Credit Agricole ($66.2B, 2.2%) and Bank of America ($63.5B, 2.1%).
The largest users of the $6.8 billion in Fed RRP include: Columbia Short-Term Cash Fund ($3.9B), American Funds Central Cash ($1.5B), BlackRock Cash Inst MMkt ($1.0B) and T Rowe Price Govt Reserve Fund ($0.5B).
The 10 largest issuers of "credit" -- CDs, CP and Other securities (including Time Deposits and Notes) combined -- include: RBC ($41.7B, 7.1%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($36.5B, 6.2%), Bank of America ($29.2B, 5.0%), ING Bank ($24.6B, 4.2%), Barclays PLC ($23.9B, 4.1%), Fixed Income Clearing Corp ($21.3B, 3.6%), Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd ($20.5B, 3.5%), Bank of Montreal ($19.5B, 3.3%), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd ($19.1B, 3.3%) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($18.6B, 3.2%).
The 10 largest CD issuers include: Toronto-Dominion Bank ($15.9B, 7.6%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank ($13.9B, 6.6%), Wells Fargo ($11.8B, 5.6%), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp ($11.3B, 5.4%), Barclays PLC ($10.6B, 5.0%), Credit Agricole ($10.3B, 4.9%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($10.2B, 4.9%), Bank of Nova Scotia ($9.9B, 4.7%), Bank of America ($8.8B, 4.2%) and Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd ($8.5B, 4.0%).
The 10 largest CP issuers (we include affiliated ABCP programs) include: RBC ($24.5B, 8.9%), Toronto-Dominion Bank ($18.3B, 6.6%), Barclays PLC ($12.8B, 4.6%), Bank of Montreal ($12.6B, 4.5%), JP Morgan ($10.9B, 3.9%), Capitolis Inc ($9.4B, 3.4%), National Bank of Canada ($8.8B, 3.2%), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ($8.4B, 3.0%), Nearwater Capital ($7.8B, 2.8%) and Bank of Nova Scotia ($7.8B, 2.8%).
The largest increases among Issuers include: Fixed Income Clearing Corp (up $129.6B to $1.288T), the Federal Home Loan Bank (up $19.4B to $861.7B), RBC (up $17.4B to $230.7B), Goldman Sachs (up $17.3B to $76.6B), ING Bank (up $8.3B to $33.1B), Bank of Montreal (up $6.2B to $60.3B), JP Morgan (up $5.0B to $355.5B), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (up $4.7B to $88.1B), Banco Santander (up $4.1B to $30.6B) and Wells Fargo (up $2.8B to $174.0B).
The largest decreases among Issuers of money market securities (including Repo) in June were shown by: the US Treasury (down $95.7B to $3.277T), Barclays PLC (down $33.2B to $55.9B), Citi (down $24.5B to $179.5B), Credit Agricole (down $13.4B to $83.6B), Societe Generale (down $10.2B to $38.7B), Deutsche Bank AG (down $9.0B to $26.0B), DNB ASA (down $7.6B to $8.5B), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd (down $4.2B to $38.4B), Svenska Handelsbanken (down $4.1B to $9.2B) and the Federal Farm Credit Bank (down $3.3B to $209.7B).
The United States remained the largest segment of country-affiliations; it represents 82.5% of holdings, or $6.779 trillion. Canada (5.5%, $455.5B) was in second place, while France (3.9%, $319.7B) ranked third. Japan (3.2%, $260.1B) occupied fourth place. The United Kingdom (1.5%, $125.3B) remained in fifth place. Australia (0.7%, $59.4B) was sixth, followed by Netherlands (0.7%, $53.3B), Germany (0.6%, $52.8B), Spain (0.6%, $46.3B), and Sweden (0.3%, $21.9B). (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 June 30, 2026, Taxable money funds held 48.3% (up from 46.1%) of their assets in securities maturing Overnight, and another 10.4% maturing in 2-7 days (down from 10.5%). Thus, 58.7% in total matures in 1-7 days. Another 11.3% matures in 8-30 days, while 9.1% matures in 31-60 days. Note that over three-quarters, or 79.0% of securities, mature in 60 days or less, the dividing line for use of amortized cost accounting under SEC regulations. The next bucket, 61-90 days, holds 5.6% of taxable securities, while 9.5% matures in 91-180 days, and just 5.9% matures beyond 181 days.
Crane Data's latest monthly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics will be sent out Friday, and we'll be writing our regular monthly update on the new June data for Monday'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 Thursday. (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 June 30, includes holdings information from 1010 money funds (up 10 from last month), representing assets of $8.364 trillion (down from $8.365 trillion a month ago). Prime MMFs rose to $1.241 trillion (up from $1.238 trillion), or 14.8% 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 $22.0 billion (annualized) in June.
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 $3.257 trillion (down from $3.352 trillion), or 38.9% of all assets, while Repo holdings rose to $3.067 trillion (up from $2.999 trillion), or 36.7% of all holdings. Government Agency securities total $1.203 trillion (up from $1.190 trillion), or 14.4%. Holdings of Treasuries, Government agencies and Repo (almost all of which is backed by Treasuries and agencies) combined total $7.527 trillion, or a massive 90.0% of all holdings.
The Other category (primarily Time Deposits) totals $159.2 billion (down from $161.8 billion), or 1.9%, and Commercial Paper (CP) totals $313.9 billion (up from $307.9 billion), or 3.8% of all holdings. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) total $208.8 billion (up from $202.9 billion), 2.5%, and VRDNs account for $154.5 billion (up from $151.4 billion), or 1.8% of money fund securities.
Broken out into the SEC's more detailed categories, the CP totals were comprised of: $174.4 billion, or 2.1%, in Financial Company Commercial Paper; $104.4 billion, or 1.2%, in Asset Backed Commercial Paper; and $35.1 billion, or 0.4%, in Non-Financial Company Commercial Paper. The Repo totals were made up of: U.S. Treasury Repo ($1.912 trillion, or 22.9%), U.S. Govt Agency Repo ($981.2 billion, or 11.7%) and Other Repo ($173.4 billion, or 2.1%).
The N-MFP Holdings summary for the Prime Money Market Funds shows: CP holdings of $254.5 billion (down from $258.8 billion), or 20.5%; Repo holdings of $501.1 billion (up from $481.3 billion), or 40.4%; Treasury holdings of $179.1 billion (down from $190.1 billion), or 14.4%; CD holdings of $179.0 billion (up from $174.8 billion), or 14.4%; Other (primarily Time Deposits) holdings of $106.9 billion (down from $113.0 billion), or 8.6%; Government Agency holdings of $7.8 billion (up from $7.5 billion), or 0.6%; and VRDN holdings of $12.8 billion (up from $12.7 billion), or 1.0%.
The SEC's more detailed categories show CP in Prime MMFs made up of: $151.2 billion (down from $156.5 billion), or 12.2%, in Financial Company Commercial Paper; $81.4 billion (up from $76.2 billion), or 6.6%, in Asset Backed Commercial Paper; and $21.9 billion (down from $26.0 billion), or 1.8%, in Non-Financial Company Commercial Paper. The Repo totals include: U.S. Treasury Repo ($179.6 billion, or 14.5%), U.S. Govt Agency Repo ($167.0 billion, or 13.5%), and Other Repo ($154.5 billion, or 12.4%).
In related news, money fund charged expense ratios (Exp%) were mostly flat in June. Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index and Crane Money Fund Average were 0.26% and 0.36%, respectively, as of June 30, 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 Thursday 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% unchanged 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 0.36% as of June 30, 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 higher among the largest U.S. money fund complexes in June, after being higher in May. Assets have increased in 21 of the past 24 months (only April 2025, March 2026 and April 2026 saw declines). Money market fund assets rose by $49.3 billion, or 0.6%, last month to a record $8.351 trillion. Total MMF assets increased by $152.9 billion, or 1.9%, over the past 3 months, and they've increased by $936.9 billion, or 12.6%, over the past 12 months. The largest increases among the 25 largest managers last month were seen by Goldman Sachs, Allspring, SSIM, Northern and First American, which grew assets by $18.4 billion, $15.4B, $8.2B, $7.5B and $6.4B, respectively. Declines in June were seen by Vanguard, American Funds, Schwab, Morgan Stanley and PGIM, which decreased by $14.8 billion, $10.2B, $2.7B, $2.5B and $1.6B, 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 June.
Over the past year through June 30, 2026, Fidelity (up $179.9B, or 11.7%), JPMorgan (up $153.3B, or 19.7%), SSIM (up $93.1B, or 38.7%), BlackRock (up $80.8B, or 12.6%) and Morgan Stanley (up $72.7B, or 26.5%) were the largest gainers. SSIM, Fidelity, BNY Dreyfus, JPMorgan and Vanguard had the largest asset increases over the past 3 months, rising by $31.1B, $27.6B, $23.9B, $21.0B and $19.2B, respectively. The largest decline over 12 months was seen by: American Funds (down $10.2B), T Rowe Price (down $3.7B), DWS (down $2.4B) and Nuveen (down $356M). The largest declines over 3 months included: Schwab (down $10.3B), Federated Hermes (down $5.0B), UBS (down $4.2B), American Funds (down $3.9B) and RBC (down $1.6B).
Our latest domestic U.S. Money Fund Family Rankings show that Fidelity Investments remains the largest money fund manager with $1.724 trillion, or 20.6% of all assets. Fidelity was up $4.5B in June, up $27.6B over 3 mos., and up $179.9B over 12 months. JPMorgan ranked second with $929.9 billion, or 11.1% market share (up $6.2B, up $21.0B and up $153.3B for the past 1-month, 3-mos. and 12-mos., respectively). Vanguard ranked in third place with $763.8 billion, or 9.1% of assets (down $14.8B, up $19.2B and up $67.5B). BlackRock ranked fourth with $720.6 billion, or 8.6% market share (up $1.1B, up $8.5B and up $80.8B), while Schwab was the fifth largest MMF manager with $690.5 billion, or 8.3% of assets (down $2.7B, down $10.3B and up $37.1B for the past 1-month, 3-mos. and 12-mos.).
Federated Hermes was in sixth place with $514.6 billion, or 6.2% (up $382M, down $5.0B and up $32.2B), while Goldman Sachs was in seventh place with $472.4 billion, or 5.7% of assets (up $18.4B, up $2.9B and up $56.5B). BNY Dreyfus ($354.5B, or 4.2%) was in eighth place (down $849M, up $23.9B and up $57.4B), followed by Morgan Stanley ($347.2B, or 4.2%; down $2.5B, up $10.5B and up $72.7B). SSIM was in 10th place ($334.0B, or 4.0%; up $8.2B, up $31.1B and up $93.1B).
The 11th through 20th-largest U.S. money fund managers (in order) include: Allspring ($235.6B, or 2.8%), Northern ($215.7B, or 2.6%), First American ($208.4B, or 2.5%), Invesco ($168.2B, or 2.0%), American Funds ($157.9B, or 1.9%), UBS ($116.8B, or 1.4%), HSBC ($52.2B, or 0.6%), T Rowe Price ($50.8B, or 0.6%), Franklin Templeton ($49.9B, or 0.6%) and DWS ($42.1B, or 0.5%). Crane Data currently tracks 64 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 ($1.750 trillion), JP Morgan ($1.227 trillion), BlackRock ($1.081 trillion), Vanguard ($763.8B) and Schwab ($690.5B). Goldman Sachs ($645.7B) was in sixth, Federated Hermes ($533.7B) was seventh, followed by Morgan Stanley ($468.2B), BNY Dreyfus ($420.6B) and SSIM ($391.8B), 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 July issue of our Money Fund Intelligence and MFI XLS, with data as of 6/30/26, shows that yields were up in June across some of the Crane Money Fund Indexes. The Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds covered by Crane Data (currently 756), was 3.36% (up 2 bps) for the 7-Day Yield (annualized, net) Average, the 30-Day Yield was up 7 bps to 3.35%. The MFA's Gross 7-Day Yield was at 3.72% (up 2 bps), and the Gross 30-Day Yield was up 7 bps at 3.72%. (Gross yields will be revised once we download the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 6/30/26 on Thursday.)
Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index shows an average 7-Day (Net) Yield of 3.47% (up 3 bps) and an average 30-Day Yield at 3.46% (up 9 bps). The Crane 100 shows a Gross 7-Day Yield of 3.73% (up 3 bps), and a Gross 30-Day Yield of 3.72% (up 9 bps). Our Prime Institutional MF Index (7-day) yielded 3.59% (up 2 bps) as of June 30. The Crane Govt Inst Index was at 3.45% (up 2 bps) and the Treasury Inst Index was at 3.44% (up 3 bps). Thus, the spread between Prime funds and Treasury funds is 15 basis points, and the spread between Prime funds and Govt funds is 14 basis points. The Crane Prime Retail Index yielded 3.36% (up 3 bps), while the Govt Retail Index was 3.18% (up 2 bps), the Treasury Retail Index was 3.21% (up 3 bps from the month prior). The Crane Tax Exempt MF Index yielded 2.33% (up 78 bps) at the end of June.
Gross 7-Day Yields for these indexes to end June were: Prime Inst 3.83% (up 2 bps), Govt Inst 3.70% (up 3 bps), Treasury Inst 3.71% (up 2 bps), Prime Retail 3.83% (up 3 bps), Govt Retail 3.70% (up 2 bps) and Treasury Retail 3.71% (up 3 bps). The Crane Tax Exempt Index rose to 2.72% (up 78 bps). The Crane 100 MF Index returned on average 0.29% over 1-month, 0.87% over 3-months, 1.68% YTD, 3.77% over the past 1-year, 4.53% over 3-years annualized, 3.44% over 5-years, and 2.20% over 10-years.
The total number of funds, including taxable and tax-exempt, was up 7 in June at 867. There are currently 756 taxable funds, up 7 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 July issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Wednesday morning, features the articles: "AFP '26 Liquidity Survey Says Deposits, MMFs, T-Bills Rule," which reviews a recent study on corporate cash allocations; "Money Fund Symposium '26 KeyNote: JPMAM's Chris Tufts," which covers highlights from our recent conference in Jersey City; and "ICI: Worldwide MMFs Record $13.5T in Q1'26; China Jumps," which covers global MMF trends and country rankings. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Wednesday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 6/30/26 data. Our July Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Friday, July 10, and our July Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Wednesday, July 15. (Note: Please join us for our upcoming European Money Fund Symposium, which will take place Sept. 24-25 in Paris, France!)
MFI's "AFP Liquidity Survey" story says, "The recently released '2026 AFP Liquidity Survey' tells us, 'Most organizations continue to allocate a large share of their short-term investment balances -- an average of 83% -- in safe and liquid investment vehicles: bank deposits, money market funds (MMFs) and Treasury securities. This result is three percentage points higher than the 80% reported in 2025. The typical organization currently maintains 42% of its short-term investments in bank deposits. This allocation is four percentage points lower than last year (2025) but is 13 percent lower than the 55% reported in 2022.... The figure has not reached a level as low as 42% since 2011.' (See our June 22 News, 'AFP 2026 Liquidity Survey: Increase in Corporate Cash; Stablecoins Tiny.')"
It continues, "AFP writes, 'Current allocations in Government/Treasury money funds are 19.5%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the figure reported in 2025.... Allocation to Treasury securities (including bills and notes) is 12.1%, higher than the 8.7% reported in 2024 but very similar to 12.4% reported in 2024.'"
We write in our "MFS KeyNote" article, "Crane Data hosted its big Money Fund Symposium conference in Jersey City last week, where over 740 money market professionals discussed rates, tokenization, record asset levels and a number of other hot topics in cash. The opening session, 'Keynote: Money Funds Stay Hot (& Cool) in '26,' featured J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Global Head of Portfolio Management Chris Tufts. Responding to the record numbers in Jersey City, Tufts says, 'I think it's a reflection of the run our industry has had over the past five or six years in particular.... I think it speaks to the asset gathering, the relevance of our product, and the fact that money funds have become the default liquidity tool for a wider array of investors over the past several years.' (Note: Materials are available in our 'Money Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center.')"
The story continues, "He explains, 'I think I'd also add that what's new, and pretty exciting for me and probably for most of the people in the room, is that we're not just talking about a safe corner of the market, cash management. We're really as an industry increasingly at the forefront of innovation and how cash and liquidity plug into all things digital. So really this is an innovation conversation this year. That's exciting, and I'm happy to be part of that.'"
Our "Worldwide" article says, "The Investment Company Institute published, 'Worldwide Regulated Open-Fund Assets and Flows, First Quarter 2026,' which shows that money fund assets globally rose by $190.7 billion, or 1.4%, in Q1'26 to a record $13.470 trillion. (The totals would have been $13.742 trillion if Australia and New Zealand had been included.) Increases were led by a sharp jump in money funds in China and Ireland, while the U.S. and the Republic of Korea also showed gains. Meanwhile, money funds in India and Japan were lower. MMF assets worldwide increased by $1.626 trillion, or 13.7%, in the 12 months through 3/31/26, and money funds in the U.S. now represent 57.7% of worldwide assets."
It continues, "ICI's release says, 'Worldwide regulated open-end fund assets, excluding funds of funds, decreased 0.8% to $87.23 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Worldwide net cash inflow to all funds was $931 billion in the first quarter, compared with $1.4 trillion of net inflows in the fourth quarter of 2025. The Investment Company Institute compiles worldwide regulated open-end fund statistics on behalf of the International Investment Funds Association (IIFA), the organization of national fund associations. The collection for the first quarter of 2026 contains statistics from 44 jurisdictions.'"
MFI also includes the News brief, "MMFs Break Record $8.4 Trillion." It says, "Our MFI Daily shows MMF assets jumping $89.6 billion Monday (7/6) to a record $8.404 trillion. The monthly MFI XLS shows assets rising $49.4 billion in June to a record $8.351 trillion. ICI's latest weekly 'Money Market Fund Assets' shows money fund assets jumping $47.7 billion to a record $​7.​948 trillion."
Another News brief, "Barron's Writes 'Money-Market Funds Are as Appealing as Ever. Just Don't Back Up the Truck.' The article states, 'Money-market funds have a lot going for them right now. Not only do they offer safety from turbulent markets, but investors can also earn an attractive 3.45% yield, according to Crane's index of the 100 largest money-market funds. That's down from 3.58% at the start of the year, but stable for the past few months and quite a bit higher than most investors expected for midyear.'"
A third News brief, "Portfolio Holdings: Assets Jump; Treasuries Surge, Repo Up," says, "Our June Money Fund Portfolio Holdings, with data as of May 31, 2026, show that holdings of Treasuries jumped sharply last month. Money market securities held by Taxable U.S. money funds (tracked by Crane Data) increased by $255.9 billion to $8.225 trillion in May. Treasuries jumped by $218.9 billion (6.9%) to $3.373 trillion, or 41.0% of holdings. Repo rose by $17.9 billion (0.6%) to $2.992 trillion in May, or 36.4% of holdings. Agencies were the third largest segment, and CP remained fourth, ahead of CDs, Other/Time Deposits and VRDNs."
A sidebar, "Fed Z.1: Household Assets Up," says, "The Federal Reserve's latest quarterly 'Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States' shows that Total MMF Assets increased by $99 billion to $8.290 trillion in Q1'26. The Household Sector, by far the largest investor segment with $5.419 trillion, saw the biggest asset increase in Q1, followed by Other Financial Business (formerly Funding Corps) and Nonfinancial Corporate Business. The Fed's Z.1 numbers also showed noticeable increases for the Exchange-traded Funds and Rest of the World categories in Q1 2026."
Our July MFI XLS, with June 30 data, shows total assets jumping $49.5 billion to $8.351 trillion, after increasing $193.2 billion in May, decreasing $102.1 billion in April, $56.6 billion in March, increasing $94.0 billion in February, $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, and $69.0 billion last July.
Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was up 2 bps at 3.36%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was up 2 bps at 3.47% in June. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 3.72% and 3.73%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.36% and 0.26% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (We'll revise expenses once we upload the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 6/30/26 on Thursday, 7/9.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 39 days (down 3 bps) and the Crane 100 WAM was down 3 bps from the previous month at 41 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)
J.P. Morgan Asset Management published a "Global Liquidity Mid-Year Outlook 2026, EMEA" titled "Cash at the Crossroads: Navigating Rates, Energy and AI." Written by London-based Neil Hutchison and Joseph McConnell, it says, "For cash investors, the key feature of the first half of 2026 has been a disconnect: risk assets have remained resilient, while rates markets have repriced and reset higher. The shift away from 'cuts are coming' towards 'higher for longer' is a positive backdrop for liquidity investors: today's higher yields can be attractive in cash and short duration assets, and higher volatility can create more opportunities to add value." (Note: Please join us for our next event, "European Money Fund Symposium," which will take place Sept. 24-25 in Paris, France.)
The brief tells us, "The ECB's June projections tell the story: modest growth, inflation above target into 2027 and sticky core inflation. Therefore, June's [Euro rate] hike to 2.25% was unanimous and deliberate. However, while President Lagarde's tone was hawkish, she resisted pre-commitment. We expect one further 25bps hike in September; beyond that, the same scenario discipline that justified June's move limits what comes next. Over tightening now raises the probability of reversal in 2027."
The post states, "Credit spreads are tight, but we think they can stay there. Reduced tail risks, resilient earnings and AI driven sentiment argue against sustained widening, though summer volatility is likely. Front end euro yields are at multi year highs, offering genuine curve carry. We remain constructive on financials. Higher yields, more volatility and a steeper curve can support bank fundamentals, which is why financials remain a core part of our opportunity set and a preferred vehicle for credit beta. In a wider range of outcomes, active risk management matters more, not only in credit selection, but also in liquidity, duration and the agility to respond to headline driven repricing."
JPMAM adds, "The ECB looks close to the end of its mini-tightening cycle; meanwhile the BoE remains patient as it assesses the risk of second-round effects. H2 2026 hinges on whether lower energy prices persist and whether inflation stays contained rather than broadening into wages and services. Geopolitics, via energy security and volatility, remains the key swing factor, and Europe is more exposed, even if spillovers are global. In this environment, we believe cash and short duration assets offer real value, and disciplined active management across credit, liquidity and duration has rarely mattered more."
In other European money fund news, a news brief titled, "Coinbase and Spiko Unlock 24/7 Stablecoin Access to Europe's Regulated UCITS Funds," explains, "Coinbase announced that its payment infrastructure now powers stablecoin funding for Spiko's EU and U.S. Treasury Bills Money Market Funds. The integration allows investors to enter and exit regulated UCITS funds using USDC and EURC almost instantly instead of relying on conventional banking rails. Transactions are processed through Coinbase Payments and settled on Base, Coinbase's Ethereum Layer-2 network, enabling round-the-clock capital movement, including weekends and public holidays."
Another article, "Amundi launches tokenised money market fund for Ant International Fintech Global," states, "The centrepiece of the initiative is Amundi's launch of tokenised share classes for the Amundi Money Market Fund – Short Term, denominated in euros and US dollars. These share classes were developed specifically for Ant International following a memorandum of understanding signed in November of last year, which committed the two firms to exploring blockchain applications for real-time treasury management and tokenised investment solutions."
It says, "As the inaugural customer of the collaboration, Ant International worked alongside Amundi to build a real-time investment solution tailored to its intra-group liquidity management requirements. CACEIS served in a dual capacity as both transfer agent and tokenisation agent, with the three-way arrangement designed to enhance the operational efficiency and on-chain treasury capabilities of Ant International. The trio is now looking beyond this initial milestone. The parties are exploring the potential launch of the Amundi Money Market Fund – Short Term on Whale, Ant International's proprietary blockchain-based treasury management platform."
The piece quotes Amundi's Fannie Wurtz, "We are delighted to support Ant International in this pioneering project and to further advance the real-world applications of tokenisation in investment solutions. This collaboration brings together leading institutions committed to innovation and to seizing opportunities emerging in the digital asset space. It also reflects Amundi's dedication to meeting the evolving needs of sophisticated clients and our ambition to shaping the future of finance."
Finally, a press release from Luxembourg's regulator, "CSSF consults on Guidance on Money Market Fund Liquid Asset Levels," states, "On 15 May 2026 the CSSF informed about a report (the '2026 MMF report') published by the European Commission (the 'EC') to the European Parliament and the Council on the adequacy of the Money Market Funds Regulation (MMFR) from a prudential and economic point of view and related frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the interpretation and implementation of certain legal provisions of the MMFR."
It continues, "In its communication, the EC informed that the EU's regulatory framework for money market funds (MMFs) continues to function well overall and mentioned that the market would benefit from additional guidance to support more consistent and well-calibrated supervision of MMFs across the EU, strengthening the resilience of the sector. In this context, the EC identified a 'market resilience' level of Weekly Liquid Assets (WLA). From a market-wide perspective, the 2026 MMF report indicates that these WLA levels would enable EU authorised MMFs to withstand future market stress events based on historical data and to mitigate against the potential transmission of shocks to the rest of the financial system and the real economy."
The statement comments, "Following the 2026 MMF report and in close coordination with the EC, the French AMF, the Central Bank of Ireland and the CSSF are consulting on national guidance for enhanced MMF liquidity risk management practices based on the Commission-suggested market resilience levels, supported by increased supervisory scrutiny and engagement where MMFs fall below the market resilience levels of liquidity."
It adds, "The objective of this communication is to inform market participants about the consultation paper 'Guidance on Money Market Fund Weekly Liquid Asset Levels,' whose purpose is to set out details of the proposed guidance and to seek feedback from stakeholders on the proposals. The consultation paper contains more particularly the following: the guidance on Money Market Fund WLA levels; and the questions addressed to the industry on the proposed guidance. The CSSF invites all stakeholders to provide responses to the consultation questions on the proposed guidance. These responses should be submitted electronically by email to opc_prud_risk@cssf.lu no later than 3 August 2026." (See "Guidance on Money Market Fund Weekly Liquid Asset Levels" here.")
Late last week, we quoted the keynote speech from our recent Money Fund Symposium conference in Jersey City (see our July 2 News, "JP Morgan AM's Tufts Says Embrace Innovation in MF Symposium Keynote). Today, we quote from the "Major Money Fund Issues 2026" session, which was moderated by Crane Data's Peter Crane and which featured Federated Hermes' Deborah Cunningham, BNY Dreyfus' Frank Gutierrez and UBS Asset Management's Rob Sabatino. Asked about the importance of "repo" or repurchase agreements, Cunningham comments, "It's the product within our industry that has the most amount of attention, the most amount of assets, and has the most contractual risk associated with it. So, people think about repo as the front end, as what's left over from the day's decisions on where investments should be. But in fact, it really is, you know, the key to the returns and the key to the liquidity in money market funds.... [I]ncreasing amounts of repo have served the needs of the money market fund industry, which was also growing in balances at the same time. So literally, they go hand in hand." (Note: Conference materials are available in our "Money Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center." Watch for more highlights and excerpts in our upcoming issue of Money Fund Intelligence, and thanks again to those who supported `MFS'26 in Jersey City!)
Commenting on the keynote talk, Gutierrez tells us, "I think the two points that I captured were one ... the huge growth over the last few years -- post-COVID [there's been] a lot of liquidity, a lot of cash buildup. That's been driven by attractive yields and uncertainty. Then the other thing that sort of captures [attention], [is] of course, tokenization. I know this conference will touch on it in various ways, but it's an evolving space. I think as an investment manager, you want to be involved, and you want to have products, even though it's sort of a nascent ... part of our industry."
Asked about the earlier "World Cup of Money Markets" session, Sabatino says, "I think it's important to realize while the U.S. market is the largest, there is a large and growing segment of market in Europe. We've seen stronger growth there this year than here in the U.S. so far. We're also seeing innovation occur there as well in the tokenized space. Then [there are] also new entrants ... we just launched a new Aussie dollar fund to augment our existing product lineup. So there is expansion there."
He continues, "It's a global market. The U.S. drives most of it, but many of the issues that we're doing the research for, we're buying across multiple currencies. And, you know, the evolution of money markets isn't just in the U.S., it is global. So very similar to what we're seeing in the U.S. with the embracing of soccer, a global sport, a lot more interest. We're all connected."
Asked if the strong asset growth will continue, Sabatino replies, "We hope it will. Obviously, the interest rate environment is good for our products. One of the things that we're always talking about, we've spent years, you know, debating with colleagues on the equity side, just this notion of cash on the sidelines.... I think the asset class continues to have a tremendous amount of value, especially with the aging of our population and higher interest rates definitely to help us. If you look at the markets and the expectation with a more hawkish Fed from last week, I think things will continue to be positive for all of us."
Cunningham comments on money fund growth estimates, "I'm still in the high single digits, Pete. Part of the reasoning behind that is, more or less the most recent moves that we've seen from a rate standpoint. The yield curves in the money markets have steepened, and what we saw for '24 and the first half of '25, flows were driven mostly or to a larger degree from retail types, especially against deposit products that were still [yielding near] zero."
She continues, "Then that flipped a little bit in 2025 and into the beginning part of 2026 where institutional took over as kind of the lead in that regard. But I think now when you look at the yield curve as it stands, many institutional buyers have the capability of going back into the market themselves. So, as you see a yield curve that has steepened out and offers 4% handles ... I think that the likelihood of some of that leaving and migrating into the direct market will keep that percentage growth at something that's less than double digits. Although, it surprised me over the course of the last two years in the percentage growth that we saw. So, I would be okay if I was happily surprised on that front again this year."
On what's driving inflows, Gutierrez responds, "I think it's tied to an attractive industry environment [and] geopolitical uncertainty, economic uncertainty. You have corporates put their cash levels on high. So, I think that ... the tailwinds are even outside of just yield. [I]nvestors are carrying more cash. And to Debbie's point, I think it's still a very attractive environment. You're earning yield in this risk-adverse product, particularly with all the uncertainty around.... We [think] the tailwinds will continue this year to the degree that we've seen in the last few years."
Asked about the Fed and investing strategies, he states, "If you go back to earlier in the year, we as an investment team were thinking that the Fed was very likely on hold. You know, very early in the year, the market was pricing multiple cuts.... We started legging in and extending, opportunistically, and locking in some yield. Obviously, as we all know, the yield curve has shifted.... Now, you have to be a little more thoughtful."
Gutierrez adds, "Overall, we generally have extended in this period of higher yields. But at the same time, we need to be thoughtful. That's the benefit of a money fund, right? You have a highly liquid, highly diverse product.... There will be opportunities based on your individual call on how to extend. But overall, I'd say we've been active."
On tokenization, Cunningham tells us, "Let me just start out by referencing one of the things that Chris [Tufts] said in his opening remarks, that we are not in a period of time where regulation is changing. And so we're focusing on innovation, which is so much more fun than dealing with the regulatory environment and modifications that are happening to that. Importantly, though, I think governance and control have to be emphasized when we look at these new products."
She adds, "From an FHI standpoint, we are partnering with Bank of New York and Goldman Sachs to offer a tokenized share class of one of our non-repo government products. Also, in the UK, we've had some Sterling distribution through Archax ... [where] our funds look the same in those innovations. It's just the distribution method that's being used by our partners in the process that has changed.... More recent for us is a new fund, which is sort of a resurrection of an old fund, called Money Market Management Digital Treasury Fund."
We asked Sabatino about his asset base, and he responds, "I think it's important ... knowing your client, understanding their liquidity needs and trying to focus on the liability portion of a portfolio, right? It's not just what we're investing in, but what does our asset base look like? And building a portfolio that is unique to the underlying clients, right? We all have multiple money market funds and they're all slightly different, and many times that's because of the investor base and their habits. So, we're always monitoring that, keeping more liquidity for those that are maybe more flighty in terms of their cash needs. But one interesting thing about the investor base, it really hasn't changed dramatically. But with the introduction of digital assets, we are talking to new investors."
Finally, he adds, "We're talking to digital native investors, fintechs that know nothing about money market funds. So, it's very interesting that we're at the forefront of this innovation, and that we're talking to clients that are very technically astute. But they don't know anything about money market fund versus deposit versus commercial paper. So, it is opening and expanding our investor universe. I think that's one of the reasons why we're all moving in this direction, because we see the potential. While the assets aren't there today, we do think that there's the potential in the future to serve a broader investor base with these new products."
Crane Data hosted its big Money Fund Symposium conference in Jersey City last week, where over 740 money market professionals discussed rates, tokenization, record asset levels and a number of other hot topics in cash. The opening session, "Keynote: Money Funds Stay Hot (& Cool) in '26," featured J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Global Head of Portfolio Management Chris Tufts. Responding to the record numbers in Jersey City, Tufts says, "I think it's a reflection of the run our industry has had over the past five or six years in particular.... I think it speaks to the asset gathering, the relevance of our product, and the fact that money funds have become the default liquidity tool for a wider array of investors over the past several years." (Note: Conference materials are available in our "Money Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center." Watch for more highlights and excerpts in coming days and in our upcoming issue of Money Fund Intelligence, and thanks again to those who supported MFS'26! See you in Philadelphia next year, June 23-25, 2027!)
He explains, "I think I'd also add that what's new, and pretty exciting for me and probably for most of the people in the room, is that we're not just talking about a safe corner of the market, cash management. We're really as an industry increasingly at the forefront of innovation and how cash and liquidity plug into all things digital. So really this is an innovation conversation this year. That's exciting, and I'm happy to be part of that."
Describing his team, Tufts comments, "We're about $1.6 trillion in assets under supervision. We serve institutional clients and retail clients.... Our job day in and day out, like everybody else in the room, is managing liquidity, principal stability, and delivering competitive returns for clients. It sounds simple, but everyone here knows it's anything but simple to make that happen day in and day out.... Even as we've become more digital as a business and more electronic, it's still a relationship business at the end of the day."
He continues, "The investment team is obviously front and center in the daily investment process, but, as everyone knows this is an operational and risk management-focused product. So when I talk about the team, I like to acknowledge that there is a lot more than just the investors and traders ... making this product happen every day. The money fund platform specifically is about $1.3 trillion of the $1.6 trillion under supervision. It's mostly 30 or so commingled funds and vehicles across six currencies, 90% USD. US dollars still dominate ... the platform even with significant growth in the non-USD currency funds over the past couple of years."
Asked about technology and money moving, Tufts responds, "Everything is very transparent and available in terms of data points on the funds and performance, which just removes friction in the way client cash can move around based on yield or other factors. And then I think after stress events like we saw with the regional bank crisis, I think users of money funds have ... re-evaluated what liquidity really means, what diversification means, and they've just become a lot more discerning in terms of how they think about their cash."
He states, "Obviously, yield is part of that.... Relative to bank deposits and direct market instruments, a phrase I've heard used internally is, 'cash is becoming less tolerant of complacency.' So I think that's a theme more than just chasing yield -- more active cash movement around the system and our industry is going to be with us for some time."
Tufts then comments, "With money funds, it's a game of inches in a lot of ways ... I think to the extent that you can use technology, whether it's AI or other tools to forecast liquidity more efficiently, get better execution in the market, identify issues faster, escalate them more quickly and efficiently, evaluate your counterparty usage in more real time. Those are all wins that help you deliver that extra inch or basis point over time."
He says, "We're using AI extensively. I don't think AI is replacing portfolio managers and investors, but I think ... portfolio managers who use AI well will probably replace portfolio managers that don't use AI or don't use it well. So this is something that we need to integrate into our processes and into the way we manage funds.... It's really efficient, in terms of looking at ... issue escalation, catching anomalies in our trading activity or data or allocations, and doing day-to-day analysis on what's changed."
When asked about tokenization, Tufts responds, "It seems like this year at your Symposium, we're talking more about innovation and creative projects like tokenization and digital initiatives, and it's refreshing to be spending more time on that. Obviously, the last number of years, really, since the GFC, we've been occupied with significant regulatory change and reforms. A lot of that certainly was necessary, and I think it's made us a lot more resilient as an industry through crisis events. But it certainly is refreshing to be able to focus on the next leg of evolution of our product."
He explains, "In terms of the products that we've launched, the tokenized funds that we've launched, they really look and feel from a portfolio management perspective just like any other short Treasury and Repo product that we run in the standard money fund format. So, it really hasn't changed my experience as an investor. The fact that they're tokenized ... is more of a client experience, product development, an operational exercise at this point. But I do think ... it's a natural fit in this discussion for our product. [We've] focused on liquidity, yield, stability, and putting that into a digital format is a natural next step, just adding more flexibility around settlement, portability of the funds, collateral, efficiencies, etc."
Tufts continues, "The challenging part is just making sure the governance and control ... moves at the same speed as the evolution and those other elements. For me as a portfolio manager, I think about the ... cash flow aspects and any sort of flow dynamics around the tokenized product, and how that might look and feel a bit different than traditional mutual fund wrappers.... It could speed up a lot of things. With that said, with peer-to-peer transferability in tokenized products, that actually could dampen cash flow volatility for the funds that we manage."
He says, "We've launched a private offshore tokenized fund that's run to the Genius Act investment guidelines. We also have a true Genius Act compliant 2a-7 tokenized fund that we launched more recently that's had some decent asset gathering success already.... We need to be present and ... not only educate ourselves on how these products work and how to make them more efficient and [to] make the governance as tight as we can. But also it's a process educating clients on these new arenas and formats."
Discussing online money fund portals, Tufts comments, "Morgan Money is a key initiative internally. We offer an open architecture platform that makes ... yield and liquidity options fully transparent [and] makes cash movement and the client experience as frictionless as possible. And we do it in a controlled way where you have very robust limits, audit trails, etc. Then to get back to the cash sorting or cash stacking discussion, the portals help clients segment their cash and their liquidity a bit more intentionally. And we do that in Morgan Money through cash optimization techniques and other functionality [within the portal]."
He tells the MFS, "So I think it's just making sure the cash lands in the right place and stays there until that cash is re-purposed or client liquidity needs change, and that's good for us. It ensures that the right liquidity lands in the right fund and it's good for clients in terms of optimizing their return on investment. So I think the portals have been a good development in terms of just helping cash find the right home over time."
Asked about the investor base, Tufts says, "For me personally, I think the client relationship aspect of my role or my team's role is one of the things that keeps it fresh and engaging. I love talking to the end investor. You're hearing about their businesses, their cash needs, how they think about liquidity, what they're worried about in terms of market backdrop and what's happening in the funds. That is, I think, critical to understand day in and day out. We also spend a lot of time analyzing and kind of stripping down the liability side of our portfolios."
He adds, "Obviously, managing assets is critical, but I think it's equally, if not more important, to understand the liability side of the funds -- investor concentrations, cash flow behaviors, and we have a whole committee process around that. We use technology and AI-style tools to help understand that data. We try to leverage best practices from the bank in terms of thinking about the way they manage their liability book in deposits. It's very fundamental to the process in terms of how we assemble the funds and think about liquidity management, especially in times of volatility, trying to understand that liability profile of the funds is critical, and especially the prime-style funds that own credit."
Finally, Tufts tells us, "Money funds are popular because they're built for the unexpected. We're built for volatility, and preservation of capital is central to what we do. I think there's a lot of unknowns out there at the moment from a market and geopolitical standpoint. So I think that's a tailwind for our product and just speaks to the ongoing relevance of what we all do. Secondly, I think the AI and digital revolution, it's worth celebrating. I think it's going to improve resiliency, transparency, and the way the product is utilized by a broader set of investors. I think we need to embrace that innovation and drive it as an industry."
The ICI published its monthly "Trends in Mutual Fund Investing - May 2026" and "Month-End Portfolio Holdings of Taxable Money Funds" on Monday. The latest "Trends" shows money fund totals increasing $157.2 billion, or 2.1%, in May to $7.825 trillion. MMFs increased by $828.7 billion, or 11.8%, over the past 12 months (through 5/31/26). Money funds' May asset increase follows a decrease of $100.5 billion in April, $16.9 billion in March, an increase of $59.9 billion in February, a decrease of $17.3 billion in January, an increase of $170.2 billion in December, $107.7 billion in November, $146.8 billion in October, $104.5 billion in September, $123.4 billion in August, $69.0 billion in July, and $29.3 billion in June. Assets increased $84.7 billion last May. Bond fund assets increased $66.9 billion to $5.688 trillion, and bond ETF assets increased $66.1 billion to $2.501 trillion in May 2026.
The monthly release states, "The combined assets of the nation's mutual funds increased by $905.50 billion, or 2.8 percent, to $33.15 trillion in May, according to the Investment Company Institute’s official survey of the mutual fund industry. In the survey, mutual fund companies report actual assets, sales, and redemptions to ICI.... Bond funds had an inflow of $42.79 billion in May, compared with an inflow of $12.56 billion in April.... Money market funds had an inflow of $143.66 billion in May, compared with an outflow of $118.17 billion in April. In May funds offered primarily to institutions had an inflow of $133.89 billion and funds offered primarily to individuals had an inflow of $9.77 billion."
The Institute's latest statistics show that Taxable MMFs and Tax Exempt MMFs were both higher from last month. Taxable MMFs increased by $155.9 billion in May to $7.678 trillion. Tax-Exempt MMFs increased $1.4 billion to $146.5 billion. Taxable MMF assets increased year-over-year by $823.1 billion (12.0%), and Tax-Exempt funds rose by $5.7 billion over the past year (4.0%). Bond fund assets increased by $66.9 billion (after increasing by $44.0 billion in April) to $5.688 trillion; they've increased by $550.8 billion (10.7%) over the past year.
Money funds represent 23.6% of all mutual fund assets (down 0.2% from the previous month), while bond funds account for 17.2%, according to ICI. The total number of money market funds was 269, up 3 from the prior month and up from 263 a year ago. Taxable money funds numbered 228 funds, and tax-exempt money funds numbered 41 funds.
ICI's "Portfolio Holdings" confirms a jump in Treasuries and a decrease in Repo last month. Treasury holdings remain the largest composition segment. In May, they increased $183.5 billion, or 6.2%, to $3.142 trillion, or 40.9% of holdings. Treasury securities have increased by $603.6 billion, or 23.8%, over the past 12 months. (See our June 10 News, "June MF Portfolio Holdings: Assets Jump; Treasuries Surge, Repo Up.")
Repurchase Agreements, the second largest composition segment, decreased $11.2 billion, or -0.4%, to $2.820 trillion, or 36.7% of holdings. Repo holdings have increased $107.8 billion, or 4.0%, over the past year. U.S. Government Agency securities were the third largest segment; they increased $5.4 billion, or 0.5%, to $1.091 trillion, or 14.2% of holdings. Agency holdings have increased by $183.4 billion, or 20.2%, over the past 12 months.
Certificates of Deposit (CDs) were in fourth place, up $7.1 billion, or 2.4%, to $297.8 billion (3.9% of assets). CDs decreased $17.4 billion, or -5.5%, over one year. Commercial Paper holdings were in fifth place; CP holdings increased by $12.1 billion, or 4.5%, to $280.3 billion (3.7% of assets). CP held by money funds fell by $19.9 billion, or -6.6%, over 12 months. Other holdings decreased to $24.7 billion (0.3% of assets), while Notes (including Corporate and Bank) increased to $40.6 billion (0.5% of assets).
The Number of Accounts Outstanding in ICI's series for taxable money funds increased to 88.676 million, while the Number of Funds was up 3 to 228. Over the past 12 months, the number of accounts rose by 9.353 million and the number of funds increased by 6. The Average Maturity of Portfolios was 43 days, unchanged from April. Over the past 12 months, WAMs of Taxable money are up 5 days.
In related news, Crane Data published its latest Weekly Money Fund Portfolio Holdings statistics Tuesday, which track a shifting subset of our monthly Portfolio Holdings collection. The most recent cut (with data as of June 26) includes Holdings information from 75 money funds (up 17 from a week ago), or $4.784 trillion (up from $4.103 trillion) of the $8.326 trillion in total money fund assets (or 57.5%) 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 June 10 News, "June MF Portfolio Holdings: Assets Jump; Treasuries Surge, Repo Up.")
Our latest Weekly MFPH Composition summary shows Government assets dominating the holdings list with Treasuries totaling $2.079 trillion (up from $1.844 trillion a week ago), or 43.5%; Repurchase Agreements (Repo) totaling $1.759 trillion (up from $1.479 trillion a week ago), or 36.8%, and Government Agency securities totaling $519.3 billion (up from $444.9 billion a week ago), or 10.9%. Commercial Paper (CP) totaled $179.8 billion (up from $150.0 billion a week ago), or 3.8%. Certificates of Deposit (CDs) totaled $99.7 billion (up from $79.9 billion a week ago), or 2.1%. The Other category accounted for $87.1 billion or 1.8%, while VRDNs accounted for $59.8 billion or 1.3%.
The Ten Largest Issuers in our Weekly Holdings product include: the US Treasury with $2.079 trillion, Fixed Income Clearing Corp with $646.2B, the Federal Home Loan Bank with $315.3B, JP Morgan with $188.0B, RBC with $126.4B, Federal Farm Credit Bank with $118.7B, Citi with $110.5B, BNP Paribas with $109.2B, Wells Fargo with $107.4B and Credit Agricole with $62.4B.
The Ten Largest Funds tracked in our latest Weekly include: JPMorgan 100% US Trs MM ($334.8B), JPMorgan US Govt MM ($330.5B), Fidelity Inv MM: Govt Port ($283.7B), Goldman Sachs FS Govt ($272.6B), Morgan Stanley Inst Liq Govt ($214.4B), State Street Inst US Govt ($205.6B), BlackRock Lq FedFund ($191.8B), BlackRock Lq Treas Tr ($189.6B), Federated Hermes Govt ObI ($188.5B) and Dreyfus Govt Cash Mgmt ($166.6B). (Let us know if you'd like to see our latest domestic U.S. and/or "offshore" Weekly Portfolio Holdings collection and summary.)
