MFI Custom Reports

MFI Custom Reports Sample

Mutual fund trade association, the Investment Company Institute (ICI) recently posted a "Viewpoint" entitled, "Three Myths and Facts about Bank Deposits, Bank Lending, and Money Market Funds," which argues against the media's misperception that the shift from bank deposits to money market funds is harming the real economy by reducing lending. Chief Economist Sean Collins writes, "Following the difficulties at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank, and Credit Suisse in early March 2023, a number of media reports cited analysts who suggested that money market funds (MMFs) are drawing deposits away from banks, adding to stresses at banks and preventing them from lending more to businesses and consumers. The reports claim that this process has been abetted by MMFs being able to invest at favorable rates with the Federal Reserve's (Fed's) reverse repo (RRP) facility, something the Fed created almost a decade ago to absorb excess cash in funding markets. Since May 2021, the facility has grown by about $2.2 trillion and MMFs are the biggest investors in the facility. This, it is suggested, is a concern the Fed could address by making the terms of the RRP facility less attractive to MMFs. This narrative, though colorful and attention-grabbing, needs fact-checking."

He cites "Myth #1: In March 2023, $422 billion flowed into government MMFs, which became 'dead money' in the Fed's RRP facility that banks could otherwise have lent to businesses and households." Collins responds with, "Fact #1: Government MMFs recycled over 70 percent of the $422 billion back into the banking system, either directly or indirectly. As assets in government MMFs climbed in March, those funds invested an additional $190.5 billion in debt issued by Federal Home Loan Banks, which in turn lent the proceeds to banks. Government MMFs also raised by $112.4 billion their investments in repo, providing additional funding to banks or their broker subsidiaries. Only $68.5 billion of the increase was invested in the Fed's RRP facility."

The update says, "Myth #2: Banks could lend a lot more to businesses and consumers if the Fed made terms of the RRP facility less attractive to MMFs." It continues, "Fact #2: Bank deposits, which have grown substantially since 2010, totaled about $18 trillion by February 2023 but bank loans totaled only a fraction of that. Because of banking regulations, banks often must hold deposits in US government securities or in their accounts with the Fed, preventing them from lending the deposits to businesses and consumers. Thus, an extra dollar of bank deposits will not necessarily result in more lending to the real economy."

Collins tells us, "Myth #3: MMFs increased their investments in the Fed's RRP facility over the past two years, drawing deposits from banks. Fact #3: Government MMFs did increase their investments in the Fed's RRP facility substantially over the past two years, but this was not because their assets grew. Instead, they exchanged one type of federal government liability (Treasury bills) for another (investments in the Federal Reserve's RRP facility), leaving their assets virtually unchanged."

He explains, "From March 31, 2021, to February 28, 2023 -- right before the difficulties at SVB surfaced publicly -- government MMFs' investments in the RRP facility rose by nearly $1.7 trillion.... However, their holdings of Treasury bills fell $1.4 trillion, in large measure because the US Treasury pared issuance of Treasury bills (which, given their short maturities, MMFs can hold) in favor of greater issuance of Treasury bonds (which, given their longer maturities, MMFs generally cannot hold). On balance, the assets of government MMFs were virtually unchanged over this period."

ICI's piece adds, "In light of the facts, the colorful narrative that MMFs are preventing increased lending to the real economy is strained at best and incorrect at worst. Sufficient financing to the real economy depends primarily on adroit monetary policy: sufficient financing will be forthcoming if the Fed can thread the needle of reducing inflation while avoiding a recession. Impugning MMFs as culpable in regional bank difficulties won't help thread that needle."

In other news, money fund yields were relatively flat again last week, unchanged after inching higher by just one basis point the week prior. They've now digested the Fed's March 22nd 25 basis point rate hike but should jump again after the Fed hikes rates on May 2 (if they hike as expected). Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (7-Day Yield) was unchanged at 4.64% in the week ended Friday, 4/28. Yields are up from 4.61% on March 31, 4.39% on Feb. 28, 4.15% on Jan. 31 and 4.05% on 12/31/22. They've increased from 3.59% on Nov. 30, from 2.88% on Oct. 31 and from 2.66% on Sept. 30. Just a handful of the top-yielding money market funds yield above the 5.0% level, but more should move above this level after the next hike.

The Crane Money Fund Average, which includes all taxable funds tracked by Crane Data (currently 687), shows a 7-day yield of 4.53%, unchanged in the week through Friday. Prime Inst MFs were unchanged at 4.74% in the latest week. Government Inst MFs rose by 1 bp to 4.64%. Treasury Inst MFs down 2 bps for the week at 4.50%. Treasury Retail MFs currently yield 4.29%, Government Retail MFs yield 4.33%, and Prime Retail MFs yield 4.58%, Tax-exempt MF 7-day yields were up 79 bps at 2.98%.

According to Monday's Money Fund Intelligence Daily, with data as of Friday (4/28), zero money funds (out of 816 total) yield under 2.0%; 61 funds yield between 2.00% and 2.99% with $20.4 billion, or 0.4%; 112 funds yield between 3.00% and 3.99% ($118.8 billion, or 2.1%), and 643 funds yield 4.0% or more ($5.528 trillion, or 97.5%). Eleven funds have now officially surpassed the 5.0% mark (though many are private and not listed in our "Highest-Yielding Funds" table above) but we expect a lot more to follow in coming weeks.

Our Brokerage Sweep Intelligence Index, an average of FDIC-insured cash options from major brokerages, was unchanged at 0.56% after increasing one basis point 2 weeks ago. The latest Brokerage Sweep Intelligence, with data as of April 28, shows that there were no changes over the past week. Just 3 of 11 major brokerages still offer rates of 0.01% for balances of $100K (and lower tiers). These include: E*Trade, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.

Finally, an article on the website, Cointelegraph, "Circle's Fed payment rail goal could be crushed by NY Fed's policy change," states, "The New York Federal Reserve has published new rules for counterparties looking to use its money market balancer, casting uncertainty over intentions by stablecoin issuer Circle to use the Fed's systems. In an April 25 statement, the New York Fed announced adjustments to its guidelines to determine which parties are eligible to participate in its reverse repurchase agreements (RRP)."

It states, "The updated guidelines could potentially hinder Circle's chances of gaining access to the Fed's reverse-repurchase program -- a process where the Fed sells securities to eligible counterparties with an agreement to repurchase them at the maturity date. According to the New York Fed, accessing such a system 'should be a natural extension of an existing business model, and the counterparty should not be organized for the purpose of accessing RPP operations.'" (For more, see our April 27 News, "Financial Planning Mag Criticizes Brokerage Sweeps; NYFed Tightens RRP.")

Issues

Latest Contents ()


The content page contains archives and delivery settings for all subscriptions.

Product Summary
Price Custom
News *R* ( Custom Reports )
Ranks *R* ( Custom Reports )
Funds *R* ( Custom Reports )
Archives *R* ( Custom Reports )
Index *R* ( Custom Reports )
Next Steps
Subscribe Now »
See a demo issue.
Call 1-508-439-4419 for order or info.

MFI Custom Reports News

Apr 08
 

The April issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Wednesday morning, features the articles: "JPM: Corporates Driving MMF Asset Gains; A Look at Fed Z.1," which reviews corporate cash balances and their impact on money fund growth; "Bond Fund Symposium in Boston: Ho & Schneider," which quotes from our recent ultra-short bond fund conference; and "Fidelity Reserves Digital, 5th Stablecoin Reserve Fund," which discusses the latest Stablecoin Reserves money market funds. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Wednesday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 3/31/26 data. Our April Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Friday, April 10, and our April Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Wednesday, April 15.

MFI's "Corporates" story says, "A recent 'Short-Term Fixed Income' from J.P. Morgan Securities' featured a section titled, 'Corporates maintain large liquidity portfolios, and even larger cash balances.' It states, 'As expected, corporations continue to maintain large liquidity portfolios. Based on balance sheet data for S&P 500 non-financial companies, we estimate liquidity portfolio balances as of 4Q25 registered $2.6tn, an increase of $119bn QoQ and $257bn YoY. At these levels, they surpass even the prior peak of $2.5tn in the months after Covid in 2020.'"

The story states, "The brief continues, 'Notably, cash and cash equivalents rose materially, even as investment securities drove most of the increase in liquidity portfolios. We estimate aggregate cash and cash equivalents rose by nearly $117bn last year, reaching $1.38tn by 4Q25.... This marks one of the larger annual increases in cash and cash equivalents, though still behind what we saw in 2020 and 2023. [A]s far as cash levels go, ... this will be the highest amount of cash and cash equivalents corporations have held in at least a decade.'"

We write in the "Bond Fund Symposium Boston," story, "We recently hosted our latest Crane's Bond Fund Symposium in Boston, which brings together ultra-short bond fund managers and securities issuers. The keynote talk, 'Ultra‐Short Bond Funds: Spring Break,' featured J.P. Morgan Securities' Teresa Ho and PIMCO's Jerome Schneider. The latter comments, 'First of all, thanks for being here. Once again, it's obviously a great forum to see friends. And it's important, not just because of where we are today, and we can talk about the factors of where the economy is going, and waking up every moment to see where rates are going, things like that. But ... what we do here is probably described as calm amongst a storm of uncertainty ... [within] the broader landscape.'"

It continues, "He tells us, 'So, my [role at] PIMCO is running short-term low duration strategies in addition to some of our portable alpha strategies.... From that vantage point, I think about the best way to optimize cash and ... shorter duration type of fixed income allocations.' (Note: Thanks again to those who supported Bond Fund Symposium! Attendees and Crane Data subscribers may access the conference binder, Powerpoints and recordings via our 'Bond Fund Symposium 2026 Download Center.')"

Our "Fidelity Reserves" article says, "Fidelity Investments is the 5th money fund manager to launch a Stablecoin Reserves money market fund, following BlackRock's Circle Treasury Reserves, and Stablecoin Reserves offerings from State Street, Goldman Sachs and BNY. A Registration Statement tells us, 'Fidelity Reserves Digital Fund seeks to obtain as high a level of current in come as is consistent with the preservation of capital and liquidity.' (See our March 30 News, 'Arca Capital Management Files for US Treasury Money Mkt Digital Fund,' which says, 'Arca Capital Management filed a Form N-1A registration statement for Arca U.S. Treasury Money Market Digital Fund.')"

It continues, "Fidelity Reserves Digital's Principal Investment Strategies include: 'Investing only in U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds with a remaining maturity of, or issued with a maturity of, 93 days or less, cash, and overnight repurchase agreements fully collateralized by U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds, and other registered government money market funds; Investing only in eligible reserve assets that payment stablecoin issuers are permitted to maintain under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act ('GENIUS Act') and any regulations adopted thereunder; and, Investing in compliance with industry-standard regulatory requirements for money market funds for the quality, maturity, liquidity, and diversification of investments."

MFI also includes the News brief, "MMFs Hit Record $8.279 Tril., Then Dip in Late March. Money market mutual fund assets jumped to a record high of $​8.​279 trillion on 3/18, according to our Money Fund Intelligence Daily. But assets then fell. They declined by $56.6 billion in March to $8.201 trillion."

Another News brief, "Fed Holds Rates at 3.5-3.75%." It says, "The Federal Reserve's latest FOMC Statement says, 'The Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.5 to 3.75%.' Our Crane 100 Money Fund Index inched lower to 3.48% in March."

A third News brief, "Reuters: War and Record MMF Assets," says, "Reuters writes 'Investors drive US money market fund assets to records as war-related risk fears multiply.' The piece says, 'As the Iran conflict intensifies, the spike in oil prices and rising inflation fears are spurring investors to ditch stocks as too risky and shun traditional safe havens such as gold in favor of money market funds. The result: assets in those ultra-short-term and ultra-safe Treasury funds are now hovering around $8 trillion, according to calculations from providers such as the Investment Company Institute, JPMorgan Chase and Crane Data.'"

A sidebar, "Donahue Talks Tokenized," says, "Federated Hermes' Chris Donahue spoke recently at the '2026 RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference,' and made a number of comments on tokenization. He says, 'The BNY, Goldman deal is where we have our regular fund. BNY makes a token. The token invests, in effect, money in the fund, so the money fund's the same as it was five minutes ago, and it participates in Goldman's platform. That's another whole deal. Archax is one we're doing in Europe.... We have the structures inside to actually tokenize a money fund.'"

Our April MFI XLS, with March 31 data, shows total assets fell $56.6 billion to $8.201 trillion, after 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, $69.0 billion in July, $10.1 billion in June and jumping $90.3 billion in May. MMFs decreased $26.6 billion last April.

Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was down 1 bp at 3.37%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was down 1 bp at 3.48% in March. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 3.74% and 3.74%. 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 3/31/26 on Thursday, 4/9.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 41 days (up 1 day) and the Crane 100 WAM was up 1 day from the previous month at 43 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)

Mar 06
 

The March issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the articles: "More Tokenized MMFs But Stablecoin Growth Stalling," which discusses a new tokenized MMF entrant and stablecoin balances; "State Street Prime, ProShares Money Market ETFs Go Live," which reviews the latest launches of money market ETFs; and "Federated's Cunningham on Money Funds' New Normal," which looks at the continued strength in money fund assets. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Friday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 2/28/26 data. Our March Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Tuesday, March 10, and our March Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Friday, March 13. (Note: Register ASAP for our upcoming Bond Fund Symposium, Crane Data's ultra-short bond fund conference. BFS will take place in just 2 weeks -- March 19-20 in Boston!)

MFI's "Tokenized MMFs" story says, "While the buzz around tokenized money market funds continues to grow, stablecoin balances have begun declining for the first time ever. On the tokenized MMF side, a press release titled, 'Northern Trust Asset Management Enters Digital Assets Market with Launch of Tokenized Money Market Share Class' tells us, 'Northern Trust Asset Management ... launched a tokenized share class for its NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio. Marking the firm's entry into the digital assets market, the tokenized share class represents a digital mirror record of the fund's institutional share class using blockchain technology.' It explains, 'This offering will initially be available to clients on BNY's market leading LiquidityDirect platform, which utilizes Goldman Sachs Digital Asset Platform.'"

The story continues, "Paula Kar, Northern Trust Asset Management's Chief Product Officer, comments, 'This launch reflects Northern Trust Asset Management's commitment to delivering secure, efficient, and innovative liquidity solutions for institutional investors. Tokenization delivers meaningful advantages, including improved settlement efficiency and enhanced visibility. Money market funds are on the leading edge of digital innovation, and we are excited to advance our product suite in this evolving space.'"

We write in the "Money Market ETFs," story, "A press release, 'State Street Investment Management Unveils New Actively Managed Prime Money Market ETF,' tells us, 'State Street Investment Management ... announced the launch of the State Street Prime Money Market ETF (MMK), an actively managed ETF designed to meet the cash management needs of investors seeking the convenience, transparency and trading flexibility of ETFs.'"

It quotes Anna Paglia, Chief Business Officer for State Street Investment Management, "For decades, State Street Investment Management has delivered cash solutions to many of the world's most sophisticated institutional investors. With the launch of MMK, that same expertise becomes accessible to all investors looking for ways to manage their cash with an emphasis on income, liquidity and flexibility.'"

Our third article says, "Federated Hermes' latest monthly insight asks, 'Has the floor been raised for the money markets?' Money Market CIO Deborah Cunningham writes, 'There are essentially two ways an extraordinary development can play out: reverting to the mean or creating a new status quo. In finance, the latter is rare, but we believe 2026 is shaping up to be just that for the money markets.'"

It continues, "She explains, 'Many would agree that the collective performance of stable value products since mid-2022 has indeed been extraordinary, riding on the back of Federal Reserve rate hikes, and rising to their highest level in decades. The high watermark for yields came the following year, with the target fed funds range reaching 5.25-5.50% and the Crane 100 Money Fund Index touching 5.20%. Funds poured into money market funds, pushing assets under management (AUM) to record highs.'"

MFI also includes the News brief, "Bloomberg on Record MMF Assets." It says, "They write, 'Money Fund Assets Rise to Record $8.27 Trillion in Dash for Cash.' The piece explains, 'Investors are rushing into US money-market funds, lifting total assets to a record $8.271 trillion, as the war in Iran fuels a broad flight to safety. Some $49 billion flowed into money-market funds in the week ending March 3, according to the latest figures from Crane Data.'"

Another News brief, "Reuters: 'Wall Street Regulator Allows Intraday Trading of Tokenized WisdomTree Money Market Fund.' They comment, 'The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ... said it had granted a special request from the asset manager WisdomTree to allow intraday trading in tokenized shares of a money market fund, adding that this could speed settlement times and ease access for retail investors.'"

A third News brief, "SSIM's latest 'Monthly Cash Review' is titled, 'A Hawk at the Door.' The piece states, 'From a markets perspective, January, as usual, 'came in hot.' Flows were positive and the maturity schedule is heavy, pushing technicals tighter. Spreads have rallied across fixed and float, with fixed looking a bit too proud of itself at 3-4 bps tighter. There's not much value in extending out the curve unless you enjoy chasing things that don't want to be caught. Most investors are holding back, waiting for February to offer better levels, while fund durations naturally roll down as everyone resists the urge to buy at today's highs.... There's still plenty of cash sloshing around. It's a seller's market, plain and simple.'"

A sidebar, "iShares Short Bond ETFs," says, "ETF Trends writes that 'iShares Moves Short-Term Bond ETFs to the Big Board.' The article comments, 'As the hunt for yield and stability remains a cornerstone of portfolios in 2026, a group of iShares short-term bond ETFs have made a strategic move to the Big Board.... Four prominent short-term fixed-income vehicles have officially transitioned their primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The move involves the $75 billion iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV), the $20 billion iShares 0-1 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHV), the $470 million iShares Prime Money Market ETF (PMMF), and the $95 million iShares Government Money Market ETF (GMMF).'"

Our March MFI XLS, with February 28 data, shows total assets rose $94.0 billion to a record high $8.249 trillion, after increasing $38.5 billion in January, $123.5 billion in December, $129.3 billion in November, $141.5 billion in October, $100.4 billion in September, $129.9 billion in August, $69.0 billion in July, $10.1 billion in June and jumping $90.3 billion in May. MMFs decreased $26.6 billion in April and $4.6 billion last March.

Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was down 1 bp at 3.39%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was unchanged at 3.50% in February. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 3.76% and 3.76%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.37% and 0.27% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (We'll revise expenses once we upload the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 2/28/26 on Monday, 3/9.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 40 days (up 1 day) and the Crane 100 WAM was unchanged from the previous month at 42 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)

Feb 06
 

The February issue of our flagship Money Fund Intelligence newsletter, which was sent to subscribers Friday morning, features the articles: "MMF Assets Cool Down in January; Seasonal Trends," which discusses the slowing growth in money funds; "Federated Hermes' Q4'25 Call Talks Flows, Tokenized MMFs," which cites highlights from the recent earnings call; and "PFII on CA, NY, NH and PA LGIPs; Seeking Disclosures," which reviews a recent article from The Public Funds Investment Institute. We also sent out our MFI XLS spreadsheet Friday a.m., and we've updated our Money Fund Wisdom database with 1/31/25 data. Our February Money Fund Portfolio Holdings are scheduled to ship on Tuesday, Feb. 10, and our February Bond Fund Intelligence is scheduled to go out on Friday, Feb. 13.

MFI's "MMF Assets Cool Down" story says, "Money fund assets increased by $38.5 billion to a record $8.160 trillion in January, according to our Money Fund Intelligence XLS. The asset slowdown follows 5 straight months of $100+ billion increases, but normally January sees outflows. We show the average monthly change in money fund assets over the past 15 years (2011-2025) in the chart below. January is the second weakest month (after June) and normally sees outflows of about $14 billion. (Note that March and April are normally very weak, but these were inflated by huge inflows in 2020 due to the Covid shutdown and 2023 due to the SVB bankruptcy.)"

The story continues, "Assets increased by $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 in July, $6.7 billion in June and $100.9 billion in May. MMFs fell by $24.4 billion in April, but rose $2.8 trillion in March, $94.2 billion in February and $52.8 billion last January. 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."

We write in the "Federated," story, "Federated Hermes reported it Q4'25 earnings and hosted its Q4'25 earnings call late last week. In the press release, President & CEO J. Christopher Donahue, says, 'Federated Hermes' record assets at year-end were again driven by money market asset increases, as our liquidity products provided attractive cash management resources and opportunities for risk adjusted returns. We also continued to see ... interest in our growing range of investment solutions beyond mutual funds, including ETFs, CITs and SMAs.'"

It adds, "Donahue explains on the call, 'We reached another record high at the end of 2025 for total money market assets, which increased by $30 billion to reach $683 billion. Money market fund assets increased by $16 billion or 3% in Q4 to reach a record high of $508 billion. Money market separate accounts increased by $14 billion in the fourth quarter, reflecting seasonal patterns. Market conditions remain favorable for cash as an asset class. In addition to the appeal of relative safety in periods of volatility, money market strategies present opportunities to earn attractive yields compared to alternatives such as bank deposits and direct investments in T-bills and commercial paper.'"

Our "LGIP" article says, "The Public Funds Investment Institute (PFII) writes on 'LGIPs: New Pools and Manager Changes.' They explain, 'In October 2024 we wrote about local government investment pools changing managers. It's unusual but not unheard of in the LGIP business. Sometimes an LGIP simply replaces a manager and sometimes local governments band together to create a new fund to bring in a manager or expand competition in a state. We've seen both recently.'"

It continues, "The PFII writes, 'California: CalFIT (California Fixed Income Trust) is a new LGIP that began offering a stable value portfolio in the fall. It invests in government and high grade corporate and bank obligations and is managed by Chandler Asset Management, a California based firm that entered the LGIP business in 2024 when it replaced Public Trust Advisors as manager of the FL SAFE LGIP in Florida. As of December 31, 2025, CalFIT reported $331 million in assets. California has a long-established state-sponsored and three other local sponsored LGIPs. Large states are well able to support multiple LGIPs. California joins Florida and Texas in this regard.'"

MFI also includes the News brief, "Money Fund Yields Stabilize at 3.5%, Lowest Since 11/22." It says, "Yields (7-day, annualized, simple, net) fell by 8 bps to 3.50% on average during January (as measured by our Crane 100 Money Fund Index). Fund yields should remain flat given that the Fed left rates unchanged at its Jan. 28 meeting. Yields haven't been below 3.5% since Nov. 2022. They're down from a recent high of 5.20% in Nov. 2023. MMF yields were 3.58% on 12/31/25, 3.94% on 9/30, 4.13% on 6/30, 4.14% on 3/31/25 and 4.28% on average on 12/​31/​24. MMFs averaged 4.75% on 9/30/24, 5.10% on 6/28/24, 5.14% on 3/31/24 and 5.20% on 12/31/23."

Another News brief, "Fed Z.1 Shows Jump in Household, Corporate Assets; T-Bills Surge in Q3," comments, "The Federal Reserve's latest quarterly 'Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States' statistical survey (a.k.a. 'Flow of Funds') includes 4 tables on money market mutual funds. The Third Quarter 2025 edition shows that Total MMF Assets increased by $293 billion to $7.774 trillion in Q3’25. The Household Sector, by far the largest investor segment with $5.035 trillion, saw the biggest asset increase in Q3, followed by Nonfinancial Corporate Business and Other Financial Business (formerly Funding Corps). The Fed’s latest Z.1 numbers, which contain one of the few looks at money fund investor segments available, also showed noticeable increases for the Mutual Funds and Rest of the World categories in Q3 2025."

A third News brief, "MMFs in Retirement Plans Approach $1 Trillion," says: "The Investment Company Institute published, 'Retirement Assets Total $48.1 Trillion in Third Quarter 2025,' which includes data tables showing that money market funds held in retirement accounts jumped to $987 billion (up from $966 billion) in the latest quarter, accounting for 13% of the total $7.321 trillion in money funds. MMFs represent just 6.8% of the total $14.5 trillion of mutual funds in retirement accounts."

A sidebar, "BlackRock Q4 Call on Cash," says, "BlackRock CFO Martin Small comments on their latest earnings call, 'BlackRock Cash Management saw $74 billion of net inflows in the fourth quarter and $131 billion in 2025, driven by U.S. Government, International, Prime and Circle Reserve Funds. BlackRock’s platform is anchored by growth engines tied to the long-term expansion of global capital markets and fast-growing client product channels.'"

Our February MFI XLS, with January 31 data, shows total assets rose $38.5 billion to a record high $8.160 trillion, after increasing $123.5 billion in December, $129.3 billion in November, $141.5 billion in October, $100.4 billion in September, $129.9 billion in August, $69.0 billion in July, $10.1 billion in June and jumping $90.3 billion in May. MMFs decreased $26.6 billion in April and $4.6 billion in March. Assets increased $90.4 billion last February.

Our broad Crane Money Fund Average 7-Day Yield was down 7 bps at 3.40%, and our Crane 100 Money Fund Index (the 100 largest taxable funds) was down 8 bps at 3.50% in January. On a Gross Yield Basis (7-Day) (before expenses are taken out), the Crane MFA and the Crane 100 averaged 3.77% and 3.77%. Charged Expenses averaged 0.37% and 0.27% for the Crane MFA and the Crane 100. (We'll revise expenses once we upload the SEC's Form N-MFP data for 1/31/26 on Monday, 2/9.) The average WAM (weighted average maturity) for the Crane MFA was 39 days (up 1 day) and the Crane 100 WAM was up 2 days from the previous month at 42 days. (See our Crane Index or craneindexes.xlsx history file for more on our averages.)

Feb 05
 

Crane Data is ramping up preparations for our ninth annual ultra-short bond fund event, Bond Fund Symposium, which will take place March 19-20, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency in Boston, Mass. Crane's Bond Fund Symposium offers a concentrated and affordable educational experience, as well as an excellent networking venue, for bond fund and fixed-income professionals, and enhanced cash investors. Registrations are now being accepted ($1,000) and speaking and sponsorship opportunities are still available. We review the latest agenda and details below, and we also give an update on our upcoming big show, Money Fund Symposium, which will be held this June in Jersey City, NJ, June 24-26. (Note: Crane Data will also be celebrating its 20th Birthday at the BFS Cocktail Party, March 19, from 5-7pm, and Boston locals are welcome to stop by and check out the conference and party!)

Bond Fund Symposium's Day One (3/19) morning agenda includes: Ultra-Short Bond Fund Update: Spring Break with Teresa Ho of J.P. Morgan Securities and Jerome Schneider of PIMCO; State of the Bond Fund Marketplace, with Lei Li of ICI and Peter Crane of Crane Data; and Bond Market Strategists: Rates & Returns, with Will Hoffman of Bloomberg Intelligence. (Note: The agenda is still shifting slightly, so let us know if you're interested in speaking or have any requests!)

The Day One afternoon agenda includes: Senior Portfolio Manager Perspectives moderated by Peter Crane of Crane Data with Richard Mejzak of BlackRock, Dave Rothweiler of UBS Asset Management and Dave Martucci of J.P. Morgan A.M.; LGIPs, SMAs & Stable Value Funds moderated by John Donohue of RBC Global A.M. with Kelsey Bosshard of RBC Global AM, Peter Gargiulo of Fitch Ratings and Patricia Kao of Silicon Valley Bank; Stable Value & Core Bond Fund Issues with Kevin Calabro of Franklin Templeton and Michael Salvay of Payden & Rygel; and, ETF Index & Near-Cash ETF Trends featuring Marcel Benjamin of State Street's SPDR Fixed-Income Group, James Palmieri of State Street Investment Management and Rahul Ghai of S&P Global Ratings. Thursday will close with a reception sponsored by Northern Trust (which is open to anyone in the area to "crash").

Day Two's agenda includes: Money Funds & Conservative Ultra-Shorts with Peter Crane of Crane Data and Morten Olsen of Northern Trust A.M.; Regulatory Update: Bond Fund Issues '26 with Louis Rosenbaum of Dechert LLP and Jamie Gershkow of Stradley Ronon; Sustainable & European Bond Fund Update with Henry Shilling of Sustainable Research & Analysis and John Hunt of Sullivan & Worcester LLP; and, Bond Fund Data & Information with Peter Crane of Crane Data.

Portfolio managers, analysts, investors, issuers, service providers, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of bond funds and fixed-income investing will benefit from our comprehensive program. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency Boston. We'd like to thank our sponsors and exhibitors -- Northern Trust Asset Management, Capitolis, UBS Asset Management, Mayer Brown, Northcross, Fitch Ratings, Fidelity Investments, J.P. Morgan, Bloomberg Intelligence, Payden & Rygel, PIMCO and Dechert -- for their support. (We'd also love to get some new ones!) E-mail us for more details, and let us know if you'd like to request a free ticket or 2-for-1 deal!

Also, our annual Money Fund Symposium will be held June 24-26, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City. Crane's Money Fund Symposium covers the latest trends in money funds, interest rates, regulations, ratings, and money market instruments such as commercial paper, CDs and repo. We also include segments on offshore money funds, money market ETFs, stablecoin reserves and tokenized money funds.

Money Fund Symposium is run by Crane Data, publisher of the Money Fund Intelligence newsletter. It offers money market portfolio managers, investors, issuers, dealers and service providers a concentrated and affordable educational experience and informal networking venue. Registration is $1,000 and includes meals, beverages, binders and t-shirts. Exhibit space is $3,000 (and includes 2 tickets); and sponsorship opportunities are $4.5K (3 tickets), $6K (4 tickets), $7.5K (5 tickets) and $10K (8 tickets). The latest MFS agenda is available online and we are now taking registrations. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City.

We'll also soon start making plans for our European Money Fund Symposium, which will be held Sept. 24-25, 2026, at The Pullman Hotel in Paris, France. (Let us know if you'd like details on speaking or sponsoring.) Finally, mark your calendars for our next Money Fund University, which will be held Dec. 17-18 in Greenwich, Conn. Watch for details on these shows in coming weeks and months, and we hope to see you in Boston, Jersey City, Paris or Greenwich in 2026!