Press Releases Archives: December, 2012

For those planning on attending our Money Fund University in January, time is running out for our discounted hotel rates (the attendee rate ends Dec. 31). As we've mentioned, Crane Data will host its third annual Crane's Money Fund University at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, Jan. 24-25, 2013. Money Fund University was designed to offer attendees an affordable and comprehensive two day, "basic training" course on money market mutual funds, educating attendees on the history of money funds, interest rates, Rule 2a-7, ratings, rankings, money market instruments such as commercial paper and repo, and portfolio construction and credit analysis. With our first New York City show, we will continue our expanded focus on money fund regulations and Rule 2a-7, with two sessions on the topic (past and potential future), and we've added new sessions on "offshore" money funds and technology tools. Crane Data is also preparing to publish the preliminary agenda and is accepting registrations for its big show, Money Fund Symposium, which will be held June 19-21, 2013, at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore, Md.. (See www.moneyfundsymposium.com for details.) Let us know if you'd like more information on this event, and watch for more information in coming days.

The Wall Street Journal writes "Money Funds Brace for Flood". The article says, "BlackRock Inc. and Federated Investors Inc. might bolt the door to shield their funds from a torrent of money that is expected to flood out of U.S. banks when a federal guarantee lapses on roughly $1.7 trillion in bank deposits. The big money managers worry that cash pouring into the $2.65 trillion money-fund industry will further depress record low yields, hurting investors and making it costlier for managers to operate. If the influx is large enough, BlackRock and Federated have told investors, some money-market funds could be closed to new entrants, said people familiar with the conversations. The private communication is an early sign of the turmoil that could result from the end of a measure installed during the 2008 financial crisis to encourage small businesses to stay with their local banks. The unlimited Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. guarantee on no-interest bank accounts is expected to end on Dec. 31 and revert to $250,000 per depositor for each account category. An effort to extend the program died in the U.S. Senate last week." The Journal quotes Pete Crane, "It could be a tsunami."

Crane Data is making preparations to host its third annual Crane's Money Fund University at The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, Jan. 24-25, 2013. Money Fund University was designed to offer attendees an affordable and comprehensive two day, "basic training" course on money market mutual funds, educating attendees on the history of money funds, interest rates, Rule 2a-7, ratings, rankings, money market instruments such as commercial paper and repo, and portfolio construction and credit analysis. With our first New York City show, we will continue our expanded focus on money fund regulations and Rule 2a-7, with two sessions on the topic (past and potential future), and we've added new sessions on "offshore" money funds and technology tools. (NOTE: Our Money Fund Intelligence, MFI XLS and November 30 performance data and products was sent to subscribers and updated on the website Friday morning. Our Money Fund Wisdom database has also already been updated.)

The morning of Day One of the 2013 MFU agenda includes: Welcome to Money Fund University, History & Current State of Money Market Mutual Funds with Peter Crane, President & Publisher, Crane Data and Sean Collins, Sr. Economist, Investment Company Institute; The Federal Reserve & Money Markets with Joseph Abate, Director F-I Strategy, Barclays Capital and Brian Smedley, U.S. Rates, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Interest Rate Basics & Money Fund Math with Phil Giles, Adjunct Professor, Columbia University; and, Ratings, Monitoring & Performance with Viktoria Baklanova, Senior Director, Fitch Ratings, Joel Friedman, Senior Director, Standard & Poor's, and Crane Data's Peter Crane.

Day 1's afternoon agenda includes: Instruments of the Money Markets Intro with Alex Roever, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Securities; Instruments: Repurchase Agreements with Ellie Boldenow, Executive Director, J.P. Morgan Securities; Instruments: Treasuries & Govt Agencies with Sue Hill, Senior Portfolio Manager, Federated Investors and Michael Duke, Asst. VP, G.X. Clarke & Co.; Instruments: Commercial Paper & ABCP with Rob Crowe and Jean-Luc Sinniger of Citi Global Markets; Instruments: CDs, TDs & Bank Debt with Garret Sloan, F-I Strategist, Wells Fargo Securities and Dave Lummis, President, J.M. Lummis & Co.; Instruments of the Money Markets: Tax-Exempt Securities, VRDNs, TOBs & Muni Bonds with Colleen Meehan, Senior PM, The Dreyfus Corp. and Rick White, Director, Wells Fargo Securities; and, Credit Analysis & Portfolio Management with Adam Ackerman, VP & Portfolio Manager, J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Day Two's agenda includes: Money Fund Regulations: 2a-7 Basics & History with John Hunt, Partner, McLaughlin & Hunt LLP and Joan Swirsky, Of Counsel, Stradley Ronon; Regulations II: Recent & Future Rule Changes with Stephen Keen, Partner, Reed Smith and Joan Swirsky; Offshore & European Money Fund Primer, with Peter Crane and John Hunt; and, Technology Tools: Money Market Software, with Crane discussing his Money Fund Wisdom database, Bloomberg's Anthony Mossa talking about their money market functions and data, and Investortools discussing their SMART Rule 2a-7 compliance software.

New portfolio managers, analysts, investors, issuers, service providers, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of "cash" investing should benefit from our comprehensive program. Even experienced professionals should enjoy a refresher course and the opportunity to interact with peers in an informal setting. Attendee registration for Crane's Money Fund University is $500. Exhibit space is $2,000 and sponsorship opportunities are $3K, $4.5K, and $5K. A small block of rooms have been reserved at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. The conference negotiated rate of $229 plus tax is available through December 31st.

We'd like to thank our 2013 MFU sponsors -- G.X. Clarke & Co., Fitch Ratings, Dreyfus/BNY Mellon CIS, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, BofA Global Capital Management, Invesco, Investortools, and Standard & Poor's -- for their support, and we look forward to seeing you in New York next month. E-mail Pete for the latest brochure or visit www.moneyfunduniversity.com to register or for more details.

Crane Data is also preparing to publish the preliminary agenda and is accepting registrations for its big show, Money Fund Symposium, which will be held June 19-21, 2013, at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore, Md.. (See www.moneyfundsymposium.com for details.) Let us know if you'd like more information on this event, and watch for more information in coming weeks.

Barron's writes "Money-Market Compromise?" It says, "Money-market reform is in the hands of another set of regulators now, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke. But it's Charles Schwab that's publicly changing the conversation. The debate over money-market reform has been one long, ugly slog, and it's far from over. But the conversation is changing. After the SEC failed to garner enough internal support to bring its proposal to a vote, its chairman and money-fund bogeyman, Mary Schapiro, essentially tossed the hot potato to the Financial Stability Oversight Council.... [FSOC's] proposal, announced Nov. 13, looks suspiciously like the SEC's, involving a floating net asset value and capital requirements.... The fund industry's lobbying arm, the Investment Company Institute, immediately responded that the proposal "failed to advance the debate over how to make money-market funds more resilient in the face of financial crisis" and that "ICI and its members continue to oppose these reform concepts."" It quotes, "Pete Crane, publisher of the eponymous and ubiquitous Crane Data," "Money funds feel backed into a corner. For them, this is life or death." Barron's adds, "That is, until Charles Schwab--which has $155 billion in money-fund assets and had been ardent in its opposition to any money-fund reform--publicly called for compromise. CEO Walt Bettinger put forth the firm's proposal in an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal.... Treating prime funds differently than government-only funds is legitimate and shouldn't be hard to implement. Distinguishing between institutional and retail money is trickier, as even Schwab acknowledges. The proposal is light on details, which has emboldened some critics to note that Schwab has very little in the way of institutional money, compared with money-fund kingpins JPMorgan, Federated, Fidelity, and others."