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Crane Data is preparing to host its fourth annual Money Fund University conference, which will be held at The Renaissance Hotel in Providence, R.​I., January 23-​24, 2014. This year'​s event will focus heavily on regulations and the pending Money Market Fund Reform Proposals, featuring a faculty of the money fund industry'​s top lawyers and former regulators. Money Fund University offers attendees an affordable ($​500) and comprehensive one and a half day, "​basic training" course on money market mutual funds, educating attendees on the basics and history of money funds, the Fed, interest rates, ratings, rankings, money market instruments such as commercial paper, CDs and repo, plus portfolio construction and credit analysis. At our Providence event, we will take a deep dive into Rule 2a-​7 and current and potential future money fund regulations, with a full half-​day and four sessions on the topic.

The morning of Day One of the 2014 MFU agenda includes: History & Current State of Money Market Mutual Funds with Peter Crane, President & Publisher, Crane Data and Sean Collins, Senior 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 Ian Rasmussen, Senior Director, Fitch Ratings and Joel Friedman, Senior Director, Standard & Poor'​s.

Day One'​s afternoon agenda includes: Instruments of the Money Markets Intro with Alex Roever, Managing Director, J.​P. Morgan Securities; Repurchase Agreements with Teresa Ho, J.​P. Morgan Securities; Treasuries & Govt Agencies with Sue Hill, Senior Portfolio Manager, Federated Investors and Michael Duke, V.​P., G.​X. Clarke & Co.; Commercial Paper & ABCP with Garret Sloan, F-​I Strategist, Wells Fargo Securities; CDs, TDs & Bank Debt with Ted Byrne, Money Market Specialist, J.​M. Lummis & Co.; Instruments of the Money Markets: Tax-​Exempt Securities, VRDNs, TOBs & Muni Bonds with Colleen Meehan, Senior PM, and Rebecca Glen, Senior Research Analyst, The Dreyfus Corp.; 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, Nutter, McClennan & Fish LLP and Joan Swirsky, Of Counsel, Stradley Ronon; Regulations II: Recent & Future Rule Changes with Stephen Keen, Partner, Reed Smith and Jack Murphy, Partner, Dechert LLP; Regulations III: Hot Topics in MF Regulation, with Robert Plaze, Partner, Stoock, Stroock & Lavan LLP; and New Disclosure Requirements & MMF Data, with Peter Crane and John Hunt.

New portfolio managers, analysts, investors, issuers, service providers, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of "​cash" investing should benefit from our comprehensive program. Even experienced professionals may enjoy a refresher course and the opportunity to interact with peers in an informal setting. Attendee registration for Crane'​s Money Fund University is just $​500, exhibit space is $​2,​000, and sponsorship opportunities are $​3K, $​4K, and $​5K. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Renaissance Providence Downtown. The conference negotiated rate of $​159 plus tax is available through December 20th.

We'​d like to thank our MFU sponsors -- G.​X. Clarke & Co., Fitch Ratings, Dreyfus/​BNY Mellon CIS, J.​P. Morgan Asset Management, Invesco, Investortools, and Standard & Poor'​s -- for their support, and we look forward to seeing you in Providence in January. 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 already accepting registrations for its big show, Money Fund Symposium, which will be held June 23-​25, 2014, at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront in Boston, Mass. (​See www.​moneyfundsymposium.​com for details.) Finally, we'​re also making preparations for our 2nd European Money Fund Symposium; our "​offshore" money fund event is tentatively scheduled for London on Sept. 23-​24, 2014. Let us know if you'​d like more information on any of our upcoming conferences, and watch for more information in coming weeks.

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The November issue of Crane Data'​s Money Fund Intelligence was sent out to subscribers Thursday morning. The latest edition of our flagship monthly newsletter features the articles: "MMFs Dodge Debt Ceiling Bullet, Back to Battling Regs," which reviews the mini crisis over the Treasury debt ceiling and threat of technical default; "Going Global w/​Liquidity: JPMAM'​s John Donohue," which interviews the leader of the largest money fund manager worldwide; and, "MMF Portals Continue Transparency, Direct Push," which discusses the flurry of enhancements announced by online trading platforms last month. We'​ve also updated our Money Fund Wisdom database query system with Oct. 31, 2013, performance statistics and rankings, and will be sending out our MFI XLS shortly. (MFI, MFI XLS and our Crane Index products are available to subscribers at our Content center.) Our October 31 Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to go out on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Our Debt Ceiling piece says, "In what seemed almost like a welcome relief from the seemingly permanent ultra-​low yield and regulatory reform threats, money funds saw the threat of a Treasury debt ceiling default come and go, all within a matter of weeks in October. Assets fled and attention focused on what to do in the event of a Treasury default, and events unfolded just as they did the last time this overblown scare occurred late in the summer of 2011."

The November issue'​s lead story continues, "Money market mutual fund asset levels looked like a rollercoaster. (​See the chart on page 2.) They had climbed slowly for 3 months straight through the end of September, then plunged by $​70 billion in the first half of the month before rebounding strongly (​up $​60 billion) in the second half of the month. Treasury Institutional and Government Institutional funds drove the outflows, though Prime Institutional funds caught some of the rebound."

Our "​profile" on JPMAM'​s John Donohue says, "In the latest Money Fund Intelligence, we speak with John Donohue, J.​P. Morgan Asset Management'​s Head of Global Liquidity and Chief Investment Officer. Donohue shares his thoughts on market trends, portfolio strategies and the pending proposals for new money fund regulation. Our Q&​A follows."

We write: "MFI: Tell us about JPMAM'​s history in money funds. Donohue: J.​P. Morgan has been a provider of money market funds since 1987, which covers quite a few market cycles. In 2003, we decided to globalize the business and significantly bolster our investment platform, client service and fund management infrastructure. Back then, we had funds in just three currencies (​USD, EUR, GBP). Now we have 30 different money market funds in eight currencies (​including JPY, AUD, RMB, SGD, CNH) across 28 countries."

The article on the Portal Improvements explains, "As has been the case the last several years, the AFP'​s (​Association for Financial Professionals') annual corporate treasury conference (​most recently in Las Vegas) triggered a flurry of press releases, many from online money fund trading "​portals". Among the most recent announcements -- Goldman Sachs' portal finally joined the "​transparency" bandwagon, offering various look-​through options on money fund portfolio holdings, SunGard released a survey on portal usage, BNY Mellon revealed enhancements to its Liquidity Direct portal, Cachematrix debuted a new module, ICD added functionality, and MyTreasury added funds to its portal."

Finally, registration is now open and the agenda is ready for Crane'​s Money Fund University, our "​basic training" event, which will be held Jan. 23-​24, 2014 in Providence, Rhode Island. Our 4th annual MFU will contain a heavy focus on money fund regulations, as well as the basics on money funds, interest rates, and overviews of various money markets. Our next big show, Crane'​s Money Fund Symposium, will take place June 23-​25, 2014, in Boston. Registrations and sponsorships are now being accepted for this too, and the preliminary agenda is being finalized. (​Watch for the agenda later this month.)

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Registrations and sponsorships are now being accepted for our 4th annual Crane'​s Money Fund University, which will take place January 23-​24, 2014, at The Renaissance Providence Hotel. Money Fund University offers attendees an affordable and comprehensive two day, "​basic training" course on money market mutual funds. This year'​s program will feature a heavier than usual regulatory component and will also cover 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. 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. (Click here to register. A block of rooms has been reserved at The Renaissance Providence Hotel. The conference negotiated rate of $​159 (​plus sales of tax 13% currently) is available through, December 20th. For booking information please reference the Hotel and Travel page on the website. We hope to see you in Providence! Note: We'​ll also be releasing the preliminary agenda for our 2014 Money Fund Symposium, which will take place in Boston (​Renaissance Waterfront), June 23-​25, 2014, in coming weeks.

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